Release
by StillAlwaysWishing
Summary: It was June of 1998, and the war with Voldemort was all but finished. Harry, Violet and their friends were trying to find where they went wrong. While inspecting Tom Riddle's diary, Violet mutters a spell to reveal the hidden words. Then she and Harry transport to 1942, where Professor Dumbledore and Tom Riddle stand. What could go wrong? Some problems are just multidimensional.
1. Reverse

Greetings, Friends! This is a fanfic about Tom Riddle. The main character is obviously Violet, the OC, and the story will kind of be in her perspective. Tom will be the next biggest character as well as Harry.

This story will also differ from the original timeline, and it is set in an alternate universe. And lastly, I am sorry for any mistakes.

Thank you, and I hope you all enjoy!

I'll update the next chapter within the week, so please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns, comments, or suggestions. I please implore you, all who like the storyline so far, to review, so that I can get constructive feedback that will help me upload the next chapter. Cheers!

* * *

Eerie and cold. That is how it felt outside as the street was bustling with witches and wizards, quickly trying to find their ways back to their homes. There weren't too many people around, but the few that were in Diagon Alley quickly sought shelter. The shop owners were fervently closing down their places; the chains and metal gates clashed loudly to the ground as they boarded up their places with more precautions than usual. These times were dark times. And they were just getting darker.

Among the masses, Harry Potter and Violet Virk were also carefully navigating through the crowds. Both of them huddled close, as they attempted to rush and get to the nearest Floo network in order to head over to the Weasley's burrow. Glaring up at the night sky, they tightly clutched onto their cloaks as a gush of cold blew. It was as if the air was crackling for something catastrophic to occur. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley must have been starting to worry about the two of them.

There was another loud thump, as a crate of newspaper's fell down off of the bench. The copies of the Daily Prophet swayed in the ominous wind, as many stomped over the papers. Big bold letters stated the recent attacks on the Muggles as well as various amounts of magical folk. Violet's eyes landed on the newspaper that read: **Voldemort Still At Large.** Unfortunately, it had been about a month since the Battle of Hogwarts. A battle that never actually happened.

Just as they passed the last crowd, Harry and Violet reached the Leaky Cauldron and walked in.

Without looking back at Harry, Violet headed over to the nearest Floo place. "Ma'am, can you please excuse us? We are trying to Floo out."

The old woman looked up at Violet with a smug look on her face, "A bit out of place, are you not, American?"

"Violet, come on." Harry sighed, grabbing onto Violet's arm, and passing the old woman by. "You've been here for ages, yet you still prefer to be polite. I thought Americans were supposed to be mean." He looked back at her with a grin playing on his face.

"Harry, you are further perpetuating stereotypes." Violet couldn't help but grin as well. "And plus, kindness is key."

"Yeah, well try telling that to the loads of people who are gawking at us." Harry whispered, losing his smile.

Violet looked around at the people who were throwing daggers their way. Ever since the Battle, they have been getting this treatment. "Don't mind them, Harry." Now she reminded that to herself, as she felt the pit in her stomach growing bigger and bigger every time she would get a reminder about the battle that never happened. Her legs and heart would start to get wobbly, as if she was losing her balance and falling into a dark realm of fear and anixerty. She wondered if she would ever really feel whole again, or would she live in the perpetual state of fear?

Harry just nodded quickly as he took out some Floo powder from his coat and handed some to Violet. If she felt like this, then how did the Chosen One feel? She stared deeply into Harry's face as he took control of the situation, and handed her the floo powder. Here he is, raising up to be the protector and leader. Even if it is a big or small battle...Harry will always be the blessed and burdened soul, who has to fight the big fight. She slightly frowned, as she saw the bags under his eyes, one that young adult shouldn't have to face.

"In you go." Harry nudged her forward.

Violet stepped into the fireplace and received a strange rush, "The Weasley's Burrow." She calmly stated. Instantly after the green flame exploded, she began to teleport to the Burrow. The familiar feeling of claustrophobia struck her as she tried to breathe in deeply. She remembered her first time traveling by Floo, and how she felt like she was lighting herself on fire. She used to feel uneasy about it. Now, it wasn't a totally unpleasant feeling, just very tiresome because as soon as she reached the Weasley's fireplace, she fell down onto all fours. She looked up to see the startled faces of the Weasley's.

"Thank Merlin!" Mrs. Weasley ran over to her, helping her up in the process. "We were starting to get worried. Where have you and Harry been?" Just as she mentioned his name, Harry landed, though much more gracefully, next to her onto his feet.

"Sorry we were late, Mrs. Weasley." Harry grinned while hugging her. "We just got caught up."

"I imagine you did." Arthur Weasley smiled, also giving the two a quick hug.

Just then, Ginny tottered down the stairs with Hermione and Ron close by. "Is that Harry and Violet?" She squealed when she saw them.

"We've been waiting for _ages!"_ Ron exaggerated with a huge grin as they made their ways down the stairs.

Ginny instantly attacked Harry with a hug and a small kiss that made Ron gag.

"Not in front of me!" He bellowed as they ignored him.

"Oh shut up, Ronald!" Hermione giggled while hugging Violet. "I've missed you, even if you were gone for only a day."

"A day can be too long." Violet smirked while hugging Ron and Ginny next.

"Tell me about it." Draco Malfoy smirked as he got up from the Weasley's dining table.

"Oi, Malfoy." Harry greeted. "How long have you been here?" He asked while shaking hands with him quickly.

"Not long at all." Draco shook his head.

"Draco just came by an hour ago." Mrs. Weasley smiled while patting Draco's shoulder.

"What about Neville?" Violet asked, looking away from Draco as he smiled at her.

"Here I am." Neville's shy voice answered, making his way to greet Harry and Violet.

"Where is everyone else?" Harry asked, looking around.

"Yes, it seems rather empty." Violet remarked.

"Fred and George are sleeping upstairs." Molly announced until it hit her. Everyone looked at each other as a huge pang hit their hearts; it was still unbelievable. It had only been a month, and the scars of losing their loved ones were too deep. Molly started to tear up again. "I meant..._Charlie _and George."

After a moment of silence, Arthur began "Well, everyone is mostly keeping an eye out for any suspicious behavior around Europe. And the rest are looking for information regarding the whereabouts of the Death Eaters."

"Still nothing?" Ginny asked.

"Not as far as we can tell." Harry shrugged.

"Well, the best we can do is wait. Come on children. Eat and then get back to your research." Molly ushered them towards the dining table. "You've a long night ahead."

* * *

When they finished their dinner, they all sat in a circle next to the fireplace. Most of them rubbed their hands together, trying to keep warm while sipping on tea. In front of them, carefully laid out, were the 7 horcruxes.

It didn't make sense. None of it did.

"Harry, can you please move to the middle?" Ron joked trying to lighten the mood, as he pointed to the items. Ron always seemed to make light of situations even if he was drowning in them himself.

"Very funny, Ronald." Hermione remarked, unamused.

"It doesn't make any sense." Draco sighed, rubbing his face. "It should have worked."

"Yet it didn't." Neville grumbled, remembering how he slayed the snake, Nagini which was supposed to end it all.

"Why?" Ginny asked, looking at Harry who was looking intently into the fire.

"If he knew, don't you think that he would do something about it, Ginny Pig?" Draco smugly smirked.

"Please remind me exactly _why _we let this ferret join our team?" Ginny demanded.

"Children!" Molly scolded while heading upstairs to bed with Arthur following behind, and they wished them goodnight.

"I guess the best thing to do is divide them up and explore them some more." Violet sighed, her hand running over the objects.

"I've got to make a trip down to the Ministry early morning." Ron whined. "Herm, Nev, and Gin too."

"You've all already gotten your schedules for work?" Violet asked, surprised.

"Getting them tomorrow." Hermione smiled slightly.

"We have yet to receive anything." Harry mumbled.

"You're probably getting yours soon, loves." Ginny reassured the two.

"Well, let's get this going." Neville nodded. "A long night and day ahead."

"Since you four have work tomorrow, you can stay here." Draco said. "I've just finished my shift."

"And where would you three be going?" Ron asked.

"Hogwarts." Harry declared as everyone let out small gasps.

"Why, Harry?" Hermione asked, quickly. "Hogwarts is basically destroyed."

"Exactly. We won't be disturbed." He shrugged. Ever since the Battle, Harry had been more and more pensive. He would constantly Apparate to Hogwarts, without telling anyone, just to walk around and think.

"Harry, do you think-?" Ginny was cut off by Neville.

"I think that it is a brilliant idea. It is under repair, so no one would notice anyway."

"Plus, it'll get the creative juices flowing." Violet smirked while everyone started to divide up the horcruxes. She secretly knew of Harry's trips to Hogwarts since she, herself, had been making undercover trips there as well. She knew that the old school was sort of a refuge to Harry. Even though her heart would crumble when she would see the glorious castle in ruins, there was always a sense of calmness there that always seemed to help her. That is what she gathered Harry felt too. After all, the place where you feel centered and calm, is most likely a home. Even if the home left you with moments that were so dark, you could not climb into the light. Hogwarts was home, but one that had left an everlasting bitter-sweetest moments. The dark were very dark, but the light were the lightest..and naturally, it was their home.

"'Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who deserve it." They all finished the sentence that Hermione recited.

As they reached for the items, they broke it up into Harry, Violet, and Draco who were assigned research books on Horcruxes, the Diary and the Ring while Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny respectively took the Cup, Necklace, Snake Skin, and Diadem.

"Of course you would grab the Diadem!" Violet accused Ginny who smirked at her.

"_Of course _I would take the Diadem!" Ginny repeated. "I already spent too much time with that creepy diary. I'll still never forget how hauntingly powerful that thing is."

Holding onto the diary, Violet pouted, "Fine, I'll take this then."

"I guess we will head out then." Draco got up to his feet. "I'll meet you there, Potter and Virk. I still have to pick something up from the Manor."

"I guess we'll head out then." Harry got up.

* * *

After they had said their goodnights, Harry and Violet headed to Hogwarts. Harry had Apparated them into the Gryffindor common room. He just flicked his wand three times before the common room was just like before, with a roaring fire burning, instantly warming the room up.

"Wow, this is a trip down memory lane." She remarked while laying down by the fire, with the diary and books at hand.

"Tell me about it." Harry smiled, softly while sitting down on the ground, his back leaning onto the couches. "I remember 'Mione sneaking you in here while everyone else was asleep."

"Oh Merlin! I remember those times." Violet laughed, recalling those late nights. "Remember all the fire whiskeys we had?"

"Not as much as the ones we devoured in Slytherin's common room." Harry grinned, shaking his head. "I'm surprised none of your dorm mates caught us."

"Well, those Silencing Charms that Hermione set up always helped." Violet beamed. "Can't believe we actually got her to drink with us."

"I think that our second year is when we really started to corrupt 'Mione." Harry mused. "I mean, we got her to make us Polyjuice Potions."

"Oh, I remember our second year!" Violet sighed with a small grin on her face, recalling the memories.

"How can we forget? That was the first imminent danger we had truly faced." Harry stated.

"I know, but there were some really good moments here and there." Violet shrugged.

Harry grinned, "I recall a lot of humorous moments as well."

"Oh bloody hell yes." Violet laughed. "Although, Herm and I really do feel rather upset about missing the spiders in the Dark Forest adventure. Really wanted to see that." She frowned, looking at Harry, thinking back to when she spent the entire night in the infirmary with a petrified Hermione. She could _feel _the eerie vibe of the castle, seeping into the air.

"Well, I wish you were there too." Harry chuckled, snapping her back to their conversation. "You probably had more balls than Ron who clearly pissed himself in the middle. He told the spider that he was just a second year, and that he had soo much life to live and girls to kiss." Violet and Harry let out a few howls of laughter.

"No way, you're joking?" Violet asked, shaking with laughter.

"Oh yes. Nearly fainted twice, had to slap him awake. And then remind him that no girl would kiss him." Harry revealed. "Though...He made me promise to never tell a soul."

"Well, I see how good you are at keeping secrets." Violet remarked, smirking.

"Well, I was not entirely the Chamber of Secrets." Harry grinned at his joke.

"That was really silly, not even funny." Violet remarked, still amused. She turned to the diary, running her fingers over it. "...Though Ginny really loathes thinking back to that year."

"Of course she does." Harry said, with a slight darker tone. "Being controlled by Voldemort and being lead into the Chamber of Secrets isn't exactly her type of fun."

"Oh I imagine." Violet nodded. "_I _don't even know how I survived down there, even if I had you by my side."

"You faired very well." Harry remarked.

She snorted, "Yeah, well I was so close to pissing myself. I barely held myself together when I saw Riddle, let alone the basilisk."

"Ah, I still don't see how that works." Harry laughed. "You're in Slytherin, and you _loathe _snakes."

"I do not see how that works either." She laughed along. "Though I am cunning as well as sly.. I think it has to do with challenging myself. I didn't want to be afraid of my fears anymore."

"Yet, be very brave and honest." Harry said. "You and I were in similar situations where we belonged in two houses."

"I asked to be in Slytherin, just like you asked for Gryffindor." Violet nodded.

"Why?" Harry asked. "I never really asked you."

"Because." Violet looked at him. "I wanted to prove that these stereotypes are wrong."

"And you did." Harry smirked, his eyes twinkling. "Nicest Slytherin I've ever known."

"'It's not our abilities that make us who we are…'" Violet recited, looking at Harry sadly.

"'It is our choices.'" He finished, with a wave of sadness. "Dumbledore."

"He told us that at the end of that year." Violet nodded. After moment of silence, Violet whispered so quietly that she could barely hear herself. "We'll avenge him, Harry. We'll avenge them all."

He sighed, "I know...But it's just the '_when'_ I'm worried."

Then both of them fell under an easy silence, as they turned back to their current inspections of the Horcruxes. When she turned back to the diary, Violet started to think back to her time in the Chamber with Harry, Ginny, and Tom Riddle.

Her thoughts brisked over the memories of that night. She remembered when Riddle had set the basilisk on them, and how Harry and her ran for their lives. Her heart began to start kicking when she thought back to how Harry opened up the diary and impaled it with the dead basilisk's fang. Riddle had began to burn with light, slowly set on fire to oblivion.

After staring at the diary for a long time, Violet turned to Harry. "Harry, what if things had been different?"

"Hmm, what do you mean?" He asked, still involved into the book of Horcruxes he was reading.

Violet turned back to the diary, "What if he was steered in the right direction before he became this way?"

"Who are you talking about?" Harry mumbled.

"Tom. Tom Riddle." She looked at Harry again as he glanced up at her for the first time. "What if he had been… I don't know…. _saved_."

Harry had a hard look on his face, "Trust me when I say that that is not the case, Violet. I dealt with him in the Chamber as well as seen what he did in the past, firsthand. Voldemort isn't one to be saved."

"I was in the Chamber too, and I know what you mean." Violet got up and faced him, "But that is because he never had a _chance_ to be saved. He just never got a chance to be taught empathy."

"I said it once, and I'll say it again, Violet : Voldemort isn't one to be saved. There are too many things that have been done where he could just reform and repent for his doings. It's too far done now. You know this is to be true as well." Harry shook his head, fiercely. Sensing the mood get darker again, Violet stayed quiet as Harry turned back to the book. She felt guilt overcome her as she realized that she had maybe pushed one of Harry's buttons.

After a while, she turned her back to Harry and examined the diary again. The basilisk's fang was still deeply penetrating the diary, so she carefully opened up it up. Her fingers ran over and traced the dry crusted blood. For some reason she felt a little jolt and realized that she had also cut herself with the sharp edges of the paper. The drop of blood fell into the pages as she wiped her finger on her jeans. Her blood smeared into the pages, just like Riddle's had.

"But he wasn't Voldemort." She whispered to the comment that Harry made last. "I'm talking about Tom Riddle."

She turned the diary over, again tracing the leathery letters that read: Tom Marvolo Riddle. She felt the same wave of sadness wash over her that she got when she looked into the Pensieve of Dumbledore's memories of young Tom. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't his fault that he didn't have a chance to see the better things in life...like family, friends, and love. Even though it _was _his fault that he made all the wrong choices. Harry had grown up in the similar situation as Tom had, yet Harry had become the exact opposite of Tom. But what Riddle hadn't gotten was love from parents like Harry's and supporters who picked him up every time. She got an overwhelming feeling as she flipped it to the back to a random page.

A silly thought ran through her head. It wouldn't work. It couldn't. Dumbledore, Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Lupin, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, hell even maybe even Ron's Aunt Muriel and Hagrid had probably even tried to reveal the secrets that were written in the diary over tea. They had all probably tried countless of times to unearth the words of the darkest wizard.

Violet tried to rationalize her way out of it, but that still didn't compel her to stop from trying.

"This is it." she whispered, shaking. "Relashio."

For a moment, she stared at the pages and just sighed, realizing that she had really lost it. There was no development to be made from her sad attempt. It surely wouldn't be this easy. Then all of the sudden, faintly beautiful calligraphy started to appear onto the page.

"Harry?" She gulped.

"What?" He looked up, hearing Violet's mortified tone.

"You might want to come here and look at this." Violet squeaked as he sat down next to her.

"W-what?" He sputtered as his eyes graced over the tainted diary. "H-how?"

The diary's ink had gotten more and more bold by the second as Harry and Violet hovered over the leather object.

"Dumbledore, Lupin, Hermione, Me! Everyone!" He yelled, not believing his eyes. "We have all tried to get it to reveal itself to us, even before the battle! How did you do it?"

"I haven't any idea." She answered, becoming lightheaded.

As they intently stared at the words, they both read out loud:

"My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle... And this is-"  
"H-harry, is it me or is there a light-?" Violet fumbled out, panicked.

"A light that is getting brighter by the moment!" Harry exclaimed, while pushing the diary back towards the fireplace. "Push it away, Violet!" The light became so intense that, both of them had to cover their eyes.

But it was way too late.

Because as soon as they opened their eyes, they were dropped harshly onto the ground of in front of the Grand Staircase. They both looked at each other: eyes as wides as marbles and hearts thumping against their chests.

For when they looked back up, the receding forms of a young dark haired wizard and a middle-aged Albus Dumbledore caught their eye.


	2. Decisions

Greetings friends! I know I said I'd update until the whole week passed, but I simply could not help myself and spoil whoever continues to read. I do hope this you all enjoy the chapter, and please don't hesitate to reach out with any comments, questions, concerns, or suggestions, I will appreciate all feedback as it does help me write more efficiently. Cheers!

* * *

Chapter 2: Decisions

* * *

Profound confusion. That is what bolted through Harry and Violet's minds as they laid flat against the cold floor. Even though it was mere seconds, it felt like eons as the scene before them registered. But when Harry and Violet saw the two receding forms briskly take the stairs further away from them, the same thought surged through their minds:

_**They were both in the past.** _

"We-I-you-." Harry stuttered as they got up on their feet, looking around the warmly lit corridors. Now, the fact that they were in the past had settled in, and they frantically looked around the hallway, trying to see if anyone had seen them; no one had seen them because no one was around. But their luck ran out as they heard footsteps, a student had took a turn in their direction. Harry and Violet glared widely at each other.

"Harry, someone's coming!" Violet whispered in a panic, her tan skin turning slightly pale.

Instantly, Harry grabbed her arm and dragged both of them behind a pillar. Harry, the quick thinker as always, cast a quick non verbal illusionment spell over them behind the pillar. As they peeked at the female student who was striding towards them, they both sucked in a breath. Even though they were tucked away sight, they would surely be caught soon enough once the spell wore off. And if they were, they would be asked millions of questions about who they were, how they got here, why they were there, and lastly why they were dressed in strange foreign clothes.

The young girl came closer and closer, which only further made the both of them start softly shaking. Until the girl stopped in midway step. At first, Harry and Violet thought that something had physically stopped the girl until she started muttering under her breath.

They couldn't fully make out what she was saying, but they gathered a few words, "He...finish anyway ...Terrifying...Pompous ...No use." And then she left as quickly as she came. If it were under normal circumstances, they would have questioned the girl's odd behaviour.

Violet took in a deep breath, but just when she turned Harry demanded, "What did you _do?"_

"What do you mean, Harry?" She shivered, her brown eyes wide, still looking around as if someone would still catch them under the veil.

"How are we back here? You did something to the diary." He gulped, thinking all of the possible scenarios to why they were in the past. "This happened last time when I had traveled back into Riddle's diary

"I didn't mean to get us back here, if that's what you mean!" She protested, stepping back from him but still remaining hidden behind the pillar.

"I know! But you must have done something to provoke it to bring us back here!" Harry shrugged quickly, looking at her intently.

"..I.." Violet bit her lip, looking at Harry, and then down. "...I casted a spell."

"Which spell?" Harry asked, firmly.

"I don't know, it was a simple stupid spell to reveal whatever was written in the diary!" She sighed loudly, running her hands through her long brown hair.

"Well, it must have been something powerful in order to _transport _us back in _time!_" Harry countered, this time running his hands through his black hair.

"Harry, I didn't mean for this to happen. I simply tried to do what you had and reveal whatever was written in the diary." She explained. "Maybe it could have some clues on how to take down Voldemort."

"I know, but when I tried nothing happened." Harry shook his head. "Nothing even happened when Dumbledore tried." Then it hit Harry. "Dumbledore. That's it. He'll know what to do."

"Are you sure, Harry?" She asked, nervously. "What if we only complicate things by revealing that we are from the future?"  
"I don't see any other alternative here." Harry looked around. "I mean, we don't have Riddle's diary to transport us back."

After a good minute of standing in silence and weighing out their options in their heads, they seemed to come a conclusion.

"Okay, let's make a trip to Dumbledore's office." She gulped, but then realized. "Harry...we can't be seen or heard"

"I know." He then instantly casted another Disillusionment Charm over them. "These always come in handy."

"Where do you think he'd be right now? He was walking that way.. with a student" Violet gestured to the opposite side of the stairway, as Harry met her eyes. They both thought the same things: that student looked familiar._ Too familiar_, but they had other things to worry about.

"Come on, let's go." Violet and Harry started quickly gloss over the stairs. They both had innumerable thoughts racing through their heads as they quietly passed through a group of Hufflepuff students, heading downstairs. Even though they were out of breath by the time they reached the door, Violet and Harry did not stop until they were face to face with the door to the Transfiguration Professor's office.

"Is there _anyone_ else in his office?" Violet wandered, looking at Harry who had casted a spell to see if anyone but Dumbledore was in the office. He shook his head after a while, and they both stared at each other.

"...Harry, do you think that this is a good idea?" Violet murmured, even though she knew they had no choice.

"Well, we don't have any other choice." Harry shook his head. "Dumbledore will know what to do." Harry and Violet stayed outside for a long moment. It was not every day you see the dead become alive again. They had not seen Dumbledore for about two years before this moment, since he had fallen from Snape's death curse. Just thinking back to that moment had led them into despair, so how do you see the dead come back to life in front of you? They were about to find out when they both turned back towards the door and pushed it open.

To be quite frank, both Harry and Violet did not know what to expect when they did this. Even though none of them had had the chance to absorb the fact that they would see Dumbledore alive again, they still felt the same exact feeling of comfort when they opened the door to see none other than Albus Dumbledore, humming quietly to himself while scribbling on the parchment in front of him. It was a surreal moment, almost dreamlike which was hard to process. Both of them had dreams of Dumbledore meeting them, and it was as if this moment had come from their imagination. Although, they didn't have any idea of what to expect when they opened the door. But it was definitely not what Dumbledore said next.

"Ah, I was wondering when you both would open the door." His voice mused, as he finally looked up from the large, mahogany desk.

"W-what, sir?" Violet asked, shocked.

"I feel that that would be my question, would it not, Miss?" Dumbledore smiled whimsically at them, as they both stared at him, jaws lowered. "So, what brings you to my office?"

"S-sir…" Harry began, but his words just failed him. Dumbledore let out a musical laugh as they gawked at him, unmoving.

"Ah, how about you both sit down." Dumbledore then summoned two chairs that situated Harry and Violet on the other side of his desk. They both did not even realize that they were now sitting down in front of Dumbledore, let alone notice the fact that they had not answered back to his question. No, their eyes only tried to take in every detail of the Transfiguration professor. He looked younger, with a darker beard, yet the sparkle in his eyes determined that this was alas the same Dumbledore they knew. "How about some Pumpkin Juice?" And when they looked down, there were two glasses of Pumpkin Juice that weren't there before. Was this a reality? They had no way of discerning this since their grasp of their world was not in their present reality, even if that reality was in the past. Although it was profoundly confusing, it made sense.

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore." Violet said, still in a trance.

"Of course, Miss..?" Dumbledore nodded.

"Violet. Violet Virk." She answered automatically, and Dumbledore looked at Harry.

"I am Harry Potter." Harry's glistening eyes were still upon Dumbledore, as if he were a mirage.

Instantly Violet turned to Harry, "Harry, we weren't supposed to reve-" But Dumbledore had cut her off.

"Are you really." He said with a slight amusement. Harry and Violet shared a long look at each other, thinking about how they had possibly disturbed the timeline up by revealing their real names. "You both are not from around here, I see."

Their attention turned back to him, Violet whispered, "We…" yet the word died out in the end.

"No." Harry said firmly. "We are not."

"That I can see." Dumbledore chuckled lightly, as he folded his hands. "Now, tell me where you are from, travelers?"

"Sir...We...Aren't from around here." Violet starts, while clenching her hands together. Dumbledore lifted his eyebrow just the slightest, as if to notion that she had already mentioned that, but she went on. "As in….From this..._time."_

At this Dumbledore's smile lifted slightly, "I gathered as much. You both do not look from this time." As Harry and Violet quickly glanced at each other and back, he went one. "I already have a Potter attending this school, as I assume you already know." He let out a small smile towards Harry, and then turned to Violet. "But I have not had a Virk, nor have heard of the surname in this school. Very rare for an American to be here around this time, yet not unheard of." He paused again before continuing. "You seem to know who I am personally, and I do not recall meeting either of you in the past." He now turned his gaze upon their clothing. "And lastly, judging from the clothing….You must be from the future."

"Yes, sir." They both answered.

"Now, I do not need to inform you that you absolutely _cannot_-I repeat _cannot_\- under any circumstances reveal the future to me." Dumbledore's light expression now turned serious. "It will alter the timeline as we know it."

"But Professor, we _need _to tell you everything that has happened!" Violet leaned closer onto the table.

"We have to let you know; it's _crucial _to let you know what happened in order for you to help us." Harry agreed, but Dumbledore did not say anything. Although, he did look slightly curious, so they went on. "It's about one of your students." Harry said, as Dumbledore now raised an eyebrow.

"It's about Riddle. Tom Riddle, sir." Violet revealed as Albus Dumbledore's expression hardened, all traces of playfulness gone instantly at the mention of the future Dark Lord's name.

* * *

They had done it. They had explained everything about the time they were from. Even though it sounded very outlandish and farfetched, Harry and Violet told Dumbledore about everything that had led up to the moment that they landed, quite literally, in the past. Throughout the entire conversation, Albus Dumbledore had simply just listened intently to their stories. They could not even tell if he was even surprised or any other form of astonished. The only thing that they gathered from Dumbledore was that his curiosity was most definitely peaked, as well as the fact that he sometimes raised his eyebrows slightly in recognition. Finally, Harry ended the long, excruciating story. For awhile, no one spoke. Harry and Violet shared uneasy look, before Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Well…" He began, unfolding his hands after a long time. "That was certainly...enlightening."

"Sir...Do you even believe us?" Violet whispered, fearfully. If Dumbledore didn't help them, then surely they would be stuck here forever.

"Professor, we would never lie to you." Harry declared, his voice rising in panic. "If you don't find us trustworthy, then use Legilimency on us."

Before anyone could react, they were all suddenly pulled into Harry's mind which flashed all the memories of his life to Violet and Dumbledore. Even though Violet had always known Harry was proficient in Legilimens and Occlumency, she had no idea that he was skilled enough to bring two people to explore his mind. She, herself, was very excellent in the subject, but she could never do what Harry just did. Then again, she wasn't the Chosen One like Harry Potter. It was dire for Harry to reveal what has happened. Even though many of their friends were deeply affected by the darkness of Voldemore, Harry was the sole person who had experience each painful detail. It was very vital for him to share his story to the one person who he seemed to feel safe with all throughout his life, before Dumbledore had died. Once, they were released from Harry's thoughts, Dumbledore looked at Harry with a very peculiar look on his face.

"...Do you question us now?" Harry asked, slowly as if he was tired.

"I never had questioned you from the start, Harry." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. Just when he had said that line, their hearts skipped. It was exactly what the Dumbledore they knew would have said to them. "I just merely waited for you to complete your story." Harry began to shake with many emotions of his past running through them. "You have been very brave, Harry. Very, very brave." There was a heartbreaking tone in Dumbledore's voice, as his blue eyes twinkled with an emotion that made him resemble the old Dumbledore they knew. Harry just simply nodded as Violet reached over and held his hand in hers, she wanted to support her best friend as best as she could. "Both of you have been through so much agony. More than someone your age should go through. But alas, it builds you to be stronger...And something tells me that it has probably lead up to this moment." A comfortable sad silence fell into the space for a moment.

"...Sir, what are we to do?" Violet couldn't help but ask with a touch of desperation in her voice. "I mean...There must be a reason to why we are here."

"Oh yes, I do not quite believe in coincidences." Dumbledore smiled lightly at her.

"Why _are_ we here, Professor?" Harry whispered. "I mean, we are needed back home, yet here we are."

"Well, we are never where we are never supposed to be." Dumbledore mused in his very Dumbledore way, as Harry and Violet looked perplexed. He elaborated, "We all seem to show up in places we need to be." He then waved his arm lift his own cup of pumpkin juice, and smiled at them both. Another silence fell upon them, as they both wondered what the hell was going on.

"Harry...What if this is our chance?" Violet, peered over at him, his brows furrowed as she went on. "What if we _were _sent here for a reason?"

"Like, what?" Harry shot, looking sharply. "We are _needed _back _home._ Where there is a war waiting for us!"

"What, war, Harry?" She snapped. "We have been taking shots in the dark, wondering what Voldemort's planning."

"Well, wars aren't won over so easily, Violet!" Harry retorted.

" It's been a damn _month, _and we have nothing!" Violet hissed. They both looked at each other, feeling overwhelmed by the turn of events.

Before they could say anything else, Dumbledore got up from his seat, "I see that I am needed outside for a moment, but please do go on. I feel as if you both have much to discuss." They couldn't know for sure, but it seemed as if Dumbledore seemed amused about their small tiff.

As soon as he left, Harry dropped her hand and turned to her, "We cannot stay here, Violet."

"We have to, Harry, there is a reason that we are here in the first place." Violet shook her head.

"Yes, we are here because you casted a _spell _on the diary." Harry snapped.

"Exactly! While you all have tried countless amounts of times to get information, and you failed." Violet coolly stated.  
"Is that it? Is this to get some form of recognition that you got the diary to reveal something?" Harry laughed bitterly.

"_NO, _you fool!" Violet yelled, her brown eyes flashing in anger. "It is a way for us to change the _future!" _

At this Harry furrowed his brows, "What?"

"Ugh!" Violet sighed dramatically while facepalming her forehead. "I swear, you can be so bullheaded, Harry James Potter!"

"Well, explain it to me, _Sherlock_!" Harry exclaimed at her. At this, Violet and Harry stared at each other, a small grin seeping into their faces upon hearing the muggle reference.

"That was very lame, Harry." Violet fought a grin on her face.

"And that was very American, Violet." Harry retorted, a grin spreading to his face. Her and Harry could never argue because this always happened; they would always end up laughing or smiling at each other's reactions. They just had one of those friendships.

"Of course, my impotent friend." She hid her grin. "Look at where we are."

"Hogwarts...Yeah, so?" Harry shrugged as Violet sighed dramatically loud again, and he went on. "Okay, okay...We're in the past; the year 1943, I believe."

"Exactly!" Violet expressed happily. "And now think about what we can do while we are here."

"We can…." Harry thought about it for a while until the realization hit his handsome features. "We can change the future." And Violet yelped in excitement. "We can find a way to defeat Voldemort before he became Voldemort...We can take down Tom Riddle."

"Harry, I can hug you right now if I wasn't as prideful as I am." Violet declared. "This is what I have been thinking. There is a reason we are here now, of all times. Even Dumbledore doesn't believe that this is a coincidence that we popup here, of all places."

"...We need to takedown Riddle here." Harry's thoughts drifted. "This is why we are here. This is our chance."

Just as Harry finished his sentence, Dumbledore walked back into the office.  
"Ah, I surely hope that you both have come to a consensus." He smiled while, leaning against the desk, and they both nodded. "Then, you both should choose aliases while you will be staying here." This seemed to astonish Harry and Violet, but they always knew that Dumbledore never missed a beat.

"Professor, I do not mind using my name since I really don't have any family to worry about that might attend here." Violet shrugged.

"Very well then." Dumbledore chuckled, and then turned to Harry. "What about you, Mr. Potter?"

"Well...I think I should just use my first name since it is pretty common." Harry decided. "But the last name...Porter maybe?" Violet grinned at his choice of name, it was very close to his real last name.

"Fair enough." Dumbledore nodded. "Now, the both of you will be sorted into your new houses and be introduced as new students." And they both nodded. "I believe that you will be keeping a close eye on Mr. Riddle, and I wish you both the very best on your new quest."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore." They both thanked.

"I need not to remind you that Mr. Riddle is most...interesting." He looked at them, closely. "And you will need to proceed with caution."

"We know, sir." Harry looked at Violet.

"I assumed so." Dumbledore mimicked Harry's gesture and nodded. "But one more thing."

"Yes, Professor?" Violet asked.

"As you know, Mr. Riddle is very analytical and invasive at times." Dumbledore paused. "We will need to be very, very careful with the information we share and how frequently we all meet." When Harry and Violet nodded, he went on. "Therefore, you will only talk about about Mr. Riddle to me either in this office, or through letters. That will ensure that no one on the outside learns about your particular situations and plans."

"Of course, sir." Harry agreed with Dumbledore; if they were to remain inconspicuous as possible, then they would have to only talk to Dumbledore through these two forms of communication.

"Professor, we would like to thank you for helping us out." Harry said, getting up from his chair.

"Yes, we really cannot thank you enough for letting us stay here regardless of the danger that this accompanies. " Violet stood up as well.

Dumbledore held up a hand, "No need to thank me…" And now his eyes nor face could hide the bright smile on his face. "After all...We are old friends."

At this, Harry and Violet simultaneously went over to Dumbledore and embraced him, tightly. This was exactly what they had wanted to do since they had walked into the professor's office. Both of them tightly shut their eyes in order to hold back the tears that they had been holding in. Albus Dumbledore, chuckled softly, and wrapped his arms around their shoulders. When they pulled back, they all smiled at each other. Then as if on cue, there were three door knocks that signaled that the conversation was over. As Harry and Violet stepped back, the door opened to a slightly older man.

"Thank you for stopping by, Armando." Dumbledore greeted him. They both realized that this was the Headmaster Armando Dippet. He was not particularly tall nor short, somewhere in the middle. Also he had a semi long gray beard, and black beady eyes. His posture showed that he did not have many concerns about anyone, but himself. In all, he was not someone who would appear to memorable.

"Of course, Albus." Headmaster Dippet's high pitched voice replied politely. "Now, who do we have here?

"This is Harry Porter and Violet Virk; they will be starting a new year here." Dumbledore told Dippet as he handed over the paperwork. Harry and Violet shot each other a look, realizing that this was Dumbledore: he always had a plan.

"As you mentioned outside." Dippet looked over to the two standing next to Dumbledore. "Even though we hardly take students who enter into the schoolyear late, we will make an exception for you both since it's only been a week since the term has started. Now, you will be sorted into your Houses during dinner which is exactly in twenty minutes, so I suggest you get going."

Harry and Violet shared a quick glance, this was all happening too fast, and they hadn't even a chance to fully process the events that had occurred in the past two hours. And just then, the air around them had the slightest shift, and there was a barely audible sound that erupted from the doorway, that Dippet blocked. At once, Dippet turned around and moved back to uncover a form. Harry and Violet unequivocally fought an urge to share a glance at each other. They knew what had changed the air without having to look up, but they did anyways.  
For in front of them stood none other than Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet." Tom's velvety voice addressed, as he gracefully nodded.

"Riddle." Dumbledore firmly nodded in his direction. Dumbledore had betrayed no emotion after Harry had basically showed him the darkest wizard of all time.

"Ah, yes! Tom." Dippet sang enthusiastically. "You are just the boy I was looking for."

"Yes, Headmaster?" Tom asked, hands folded behind his back. He still had not even spared a glance their way, as if he didn't notice them. But Violet bet that he most likely had even noticed the color of Harry's undergarments from down the hall before he had reached them. He was that perceptive, and he had definitely seen them.

"Tom, these two are new students here at Hogwarts." Dippet motioned towards Harry and Violet. "Harry Porter and Violet Virk."

Tom Riddle's cool gaze fell upon Harry and Violet, who felt the hairs on their necks standing. Riddle's simply stare held them in place, as he looked back and forth between Violet and Harry, ever so slightly looking at them. He finally nodded at them, and turned his attention back to Dippet, "Sir, I did not know that we would be receiving new students here at Hogwarts." And now back at them. "It is certainly a pleasure to have you attend Hogwarts." Then he briefly smiled in to them, as they both nodded quickly. Even though Riddle would grow up to be the darkest wizard, there was no denying that the boy was simply stunning as he looked at them with his blue eyes. He sold the image well.

"Not even the professors knew of this." Dumbledore addressed Riddle's comment. Something told Violet that Riddle knew far more about what happens at Hogwarts rather than the professors that taught there. "But alas, you all should be get going to dinner."

"Tom, you will lead Larry Farter and Viola Vila to dinner." Dippet instructed with an air of false authority. As if Tom Riddle actually took the man seriously.

"Sir, its _Harry Porter_ and _Violet Virk_." Harry spoke to correct him, and all eyes were on him.

"Yes, yes. Well on you go." Dippet waved them away, as Riddle nodded.

"Wait, Tom." Dumbledore stopped him while walking to his desk to retrieve something. "I was actually hoping to ask a favor and run to deliver something to the owlery." He pulled out a package. "Perhaps you could show them to the Great Hall, Armando." Dippet only seemed to grunt a yes.

"Of course, Professor Dumbledore." Riddle nodded walking into the office and briskly passed Violet. Something told Violet that he was not necessarily happy to leave with Dumbledore while he could have gotten to size them up. Violet could feel that Riddle seemed to be the tiniest bit interested in knowing them, but he hid it well.

"Come on you two." Dippet ordered while walking away, leaving Harry and Violet to quickly pace behind him as he spewed nonsensical myths about the castle. As Violet turned to the corner, she felt a stare behind her. She was also highly empathic and perceptive. She turned around slightly to see Tom Riddle's eyes intently bore into hers. Dumbledore was scribbling something down as Riddle stood next to him, looking her way. They both held each other's stare for a lingering moment, and she could swear that his eyes were hypnotic, even at the distance she was. She felt Harry nudge her, and she turned to look at Harry who looked ahead. When she turned to look back, Riddle was not there anymore. She knew that she shouldn't look, but she couldn't turn away.

* * *

Share your thoughts! Think that something is amiss or is everything seemingly normal so far? What do you think Riddle thinks?


	3. Choices

Chapter 3:

Choices-

a choice needs to be made in order to reach certain points in life. Choices, like Decisions, can be either simple or complex, depending on the situation.

"It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices." -Albus Dumbledore

* * *

"What are you doing?" Harry hissed in a whisper, still keeping his eyes on Dippet as they followed behind him. Dippet was still rambling, not noticing that Harry and Violet were whispering behind his back.

"What do you mean?" Violet also kept her eyes on the Headmaster in front of her.

"You were looking at Riddle." Harry noticed. "I thought we were doing this carefully planned and not gawk at him like a Hippogriff." Violet's mouth dropped at the insult, and she began to say something, but Harry went on. "Just be more careful to not stare at Riddle with beady eyes."

"I wasn't gawking at him." She defended, nose in the air. "I was merely scoping out our enemy beforehand...And my eyes aren't beady!"

"Really? What did you 'scope out' about him?" He questioned amusingly with a sloppy grin on his face; he loved to make Violet feel uncomfortable about boys. "Because I thought I saw some drool." Violet opened her mouth quickly, but just then Dippet turned around to face them, and they noticed that they were outside of the Great Hall. She threw Harry a look, signaling that they'd continue this later.

"You both will wait outside while I introduce you." Dippet instructed. "When the doors open, you will come up and be sorted into one of the four houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin." Before they could say anything, Dippet walked into the Great Hall and disappeared behind the two grandiose doors.

They both looked at the doors and realized that they had not even really thought about attending Hogwarts again. They did not even know what house that would be in now. That's how it worked, right, everything is changed the second time around? If they went back in time, wouldn't that intrinsically change the very fabric of events that lead them to who they were back then?

"Harry…" Violet began, turning to him. "Have you thought about which house you will be?"

"..I…Well, I thought I'd of course be in Gryffindor, there's no other place for me..." Harry shook his head.

"Seeing that we are changing the timeline, do you think this changes us?" Violet bit her lip, staring at the flickering flame of the lamplights.

"I wouldn't really know, Vi.." Harry murmured, keeping his glaze on the large brown doors of the Great Hall. "I mean..It makes sense. Even Hermione changed when she was using the time turner back in year three. Time does have a way of changing, but I think we'd remain the same."

"Are you the same person from two hours ago, the person who Flooed out of the Burrow?" Violet still was entranced by the flame.

"I mean, I'd like to believe so." Harry shrugged.  
"So you're the same person who met Dumbledore and Tom Riddle?" Violet now turned to him, her brown eyes slightly acute. "The conversation with Dumbledore or me...or even being in this time space...hasn't changed you at all?"

Harry took a deep sigh, "I guess it did, yes. Where are you going with this?"

"I really don't know...I guess I'm saying that I don't feel that we're the same people as we were, and I don't know where this is going, only that I believe time is fickle, and change is inevitable."

"You're going on one of your intellectual speaks, and I don't think we have time for that, Vi." Violet looked up at him due to his choice of words, and Harry sighed impatiently, not because he was annoyed at her, but because it did send him into existentialism. But ironically,

there was no time for that.

At this, they became silent and wondered exactly what would happen this time around. Would they be in other Houses, or will everything be the same and they would remain in the Houses they initially were from in the current future? No, they must be in the same Houses as before. If not...Then were they truly even possess the qualities of the true Gryffindors and Slytherins?

"Harry." Violet turned to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Harry, be in Slytherin with me."

"What?" A look of pure surprise fell onto his face, was Violet losing her mind?

"Yes, Harry, I mean what I said." Violet nodded.

"But why?" Harry asked, still not getting it.

"When we were sorted into our Houses our first year, the Sorting Hat told you that you possessed the primary qualities of a true Slytherin. Even you questioned yourself during your second year." Violet pointed out.

"Yes, but I chose to be in Gryffindor." Harry said. "It didn't matter because I wanted to be in Gryffindor."

"Exactly, but don't you wonder how things would have changed if you had chosen Slytherin?" Violet asked him.

"Don't you wonder what would've happened if you chose Gryffindor instead of Slytherin?" Harry countered with a question of his own.

"This is what I'm trying to prove." Violet nodded. "What if we can also choose to change our actions in this reality?"

"But it wouldn't even matter now, would it?" Harry shook his head. "We are here for one sole reason, and that is to…" He didn't need to finish the sentence.

"I know...But I was wondering how things would be if I choose Gryffindor, like I was told by the Hat, instead of Slytherin." Violet, but her lip. "...Maybe I will choose Gryffindor this time."

"And I pick Slytherin?" Harry asked, nervously.

Violet removed her hand from Harry's shoulder and thought about this. It would change the course of many events if they actually pick the Houses that the Sorting Hat had almost placed them in their first years. But then again, Violet had truly loved being in Slytherin. She had embodied the characteristics of a true Slytherin; she was sly and cunning, but most of all she was ambitious, yet she did not step on people to reach what she wanted: wouldn't that mean she was actually a Gryffindor? The power of choice overrules the characteristics you hold in your heart, that is what the hat had simply stated to them. Then the doors opened, and they were called forth by Headmaster Dippet. Harry and Violet stepped up and noticed that all the hundreds of eyes in the Great Hall were raptly and curiously fixed upon them. Even Dumbledore was there, smiling curiously at them. Violet then thought that this must mean that Riddle was here too, perhaps. Harry must have thought the same because he turned his head, ever so lightly, to the Slytherin table and noticed the handsome, dark wizard sitting among the rest, his glare fixed upon Dippet.

It was intense being back in Hogwarts, and see it fully back in it's glory. All of the beautiful lights, decor, and magic swayed in the air, as the students excitedly whispered amongst themselves. Violet took in the atmosphere, not minding that everyone stared at them since it would sell the story that her and Harry were new at the school, that's why they looked so eagerly around the hall. Violet looked over to Harry, and noticed that he seemed to have a heavy look in his eyes.

Harry must have thought about something upsetting because he set his jaw, tightly, while looking over to the Slytherin table quickly. Thankfully, she was the only one to notice that he did this.

"Slytherin." He stiffly whispered, while now looking ahead towards the Hat. "Choose Slytherin."

Violet tried to remain unemotional, wandering why Harry had told her to pick Slytherin. They both confidently walked in, step by step, while staring ahead to where the Sorting Hat was placed atop a chair. Next to the chair stood Headmaster Dippet, who awaited them. Once they reached the front of the hall, Dippet began to speak.

"You two will now be placed in your respective Houses." Dippet lifted the hat. "Ladies first."

Violet looked at Dumbledore, anxious, who simply nodded at her; even if it was a small gesture, it seemed to bring her a calm feeling. She then sat carefully on the chair and faced all of the students, who seemed intrigued to know who she was exactly. She looked at Harry, who seemed to nodded very slightly at her, reassuring her too. She then micked his movement and looked at Dippet who placed the Sorting Hat upon her head. Violet did not know what to expect when she felt the Hat come to life.

"Ahh, very interesting!" The old hat roared as Violet's heart sank at the possibility of being discovered by everyone. The Hat sensed her feelings, "Then my hunch was correct, I see."

'Please, do not say anything that might raise any questions!' She pleaded to the Hat.

'I will not do you any harm, child!" The cackle rang in her ears. "Here, but you are not there. No

matter! I will place you in something new this time!"

"You would make an amazing Gryffindor!" The Hat addressed outside, as a wave of applause ran through the hall. "Brave, daring! After all you've been through, it would suit you well, you know!"

"Please, I do not feel as if that will not do me well." She pleaded again. "I wish to be in Slytherin, like last time. Slytherin is my home."

"But there, ah, there right there. I see that you have more than one conclusive personality. You hold two contradictory personalities.. There is light and shadows within you." The Hat weighed. "Because you are ambitious as well daring." It laughed again, loudly as the Slytherins now sent a wave of claps. "But most of all, you are a leader of sorts. It would lead up to whatever choice you make, my dear!"

Violets eyes grazed past Riddle's dark stare. She could tell that he was temporarily, but particularly, curious to see exactly where she would be placed. As he blinked, for a faint fraction of a second, she saw the red flame of the candlelight in his eye from the wide distance between them. A thought of Voldemort ran through her mind as she looked at him, remembering the cold red eyes he had. "Slytherin. Put me in Slytherin." Violet closed her eyes.

"But it is written right here." The Hat announced, hearing her request."You are a true.. SLYTHERIN." But before she had a chance to stand, the Hat said, 'I wish you the best on your journey, young girl!' And she nodded in response.

The Slytherin table erupted with cheers and loud claps. She even saw Riddle clap politely as everyone around him cheered. Violet turned to see Dumbledore, smiling proudly at her. She looked down to see that her robes now brightly flashed the Slytherin crest, as Harry nodded at her, with twinkling blue eyes.

"Now, your turn, young man!" Dippet turned to Harry, seeming to already forget their names again. Harry stepped up, and Violet stood next to him, fully supporting whatever he desires to do.

"Two in one night!" The Hat began again. She could tell that Harry was having the same conversation that she had with the Sorting Hat.

"Definitely not Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw." The Hat contemplated as the two house tables slightly booed at this remark. "You have certainly have many admirable qualities, young man, I'll give you that. " Harry closed his eyes, as the Hat talked aloud. "Just like your companion, you also hold conflicting beliefs and ideals." Harry now shook his head, as if he was talking to the Hat. "I think that the choice is obvious at the end of the day. You are one brave young man." The Gryffindor tabled boomed with applause and yells, even Violet smiled brightly. "Hmm, what do I see here?" Then the hall became silent, as the Hat became very still. "Regardless, this house will lead you to greatness." Violet saw Harry tightly clench his jaw. "Better be...SLYTHERIN."

And the Slytherins went wild as Harry opened his eyes and stared at Violet, with a nod. She then saw Dumbledore look at him with a slight glimmer of happiness in his face. And even Riddle seemed dryly impressed to see that both students were placed in Slytherin. Both Harry and Violet had realized that they both were Hatstalled, an event that occurred rarely, yet seemed to happen twice in one night. They hoped that it did not cause any suspicion.

"Now, won't you both head over to your new houses, so that we can begin dinner." Dippet urged them towards the Slytherin table where they saw many sly grins. As they walked to the table, they heard many congratulations and cheers from some of the students. Both of them were almost apprehensive about placed in Slytherin this time around, but some of the students pleasantly surprised them by acknowledging them in a friendly manner.

Harry and Violet were looking for a place to sit when an Asian female spoke up, "Come, sit here." She grinned as she moved away to make room for them.

"Thank you." Harry and her muttered, while slipping into the table.

"No problem." The raven haired girl nodded, her hazel eyes analyzing them. "My name is Margot Droope, and this is my good friend Alphard Black." The black haired boy next to her smiled brightly while giving a small nod.

Violet and Harry shot each other a glance upon hearing the name Black, but Violet said, "Hello, my name is Violet and this is my good friend Harry."

"Wow." Alphard's blue eyes widened as well as his smile. "I wouldn't have ever guess that an American would attend Hogwarts." When Violet didn't say anything right away, he added, "I did not mean that in an offensive way, I was merely commenting on how-" He was slightly turning pink as Margot snickered at him.

"Don't worry." Harry assured him. "She gets that a lot, so she doesn't say anything anymore." Then Alphard relaxed. "And plus...Vi's a little slow on reaction." This playfully earned a smack from Violet on Harry's arm.

"Don't listen to him. I'm exceptionally bright." She joked while grinning at Margot and Alphard.

"You both seem very friendly for being home schooled." Margot remarked, fixing her eyes upon Harry.

"Ah, yes, we both are eager to meet new people." Harry looked amusedly at Violet, who let out another grin, while realizing this is the supposed cover story.

"How long have you both known each other?" Alphard asked, leaning a little closer to the table.  
"A little over seven years." Violet smirked Harry and then turned to them. "Almost since childhood."

"Wow. Then you guys are the model stories." Margot said, while looking at them adoringly.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, confused.

"Childhood sweethearts." She sighed, placing her chin on her hands while still staring at them lovingly.

At this, Harry and Violet started to cough and then looked at each other, bursting out laughing which thoroughly confused Alphard and Margot.

"Ha! Him and me!" Violet laughed while pointing at Harry who seemed to be enjoying this funny moment as well.

"Never in my life!" Harry chuckled, shaking his head vigorously.

"What, you mean that you aren't going together?" Alphard looked back and forth between them.

"Oh good heaven, no!" Violet finally contained herself. "Harry and I are like siblings."

"We are just very good friends." Harry nodded, his blue eyes still twinkling.

"Oh, I thought you guys were going together." Margot shook her head. "I mean, you guys kinda just look at each other."

Both of them looked at each other, the same thoughts running through their heads. If only anyone knew. The truth was that Harry was actually dating Ginny, and that Violet and him were the closest of friends; nothing romantically was linking them whatsoever. They both were just like brother and sister after all they have gone through together.

"No, just very good friends." Harry reassured them.

"Students!" Dippet drew everyone's attention to him. "Now, we can begin dinner." At this, there were mountains of food stacked on the table as everyone hurriedly grabbed things and placed it on their plates. Even Violet and Harry had to admit that they were famished. They, like everyone around them, dove into their food.

* * *

Dinner went by as quickly as it possibly could for two hungry young adults who traveled back in time, and were most likely stress eating their problems away. Margot, Alphard, Harry and Violet talked pleasantries about homeschooling and what similarities they all shared. Then, Violet and Harry got up to go back to their common rooms, along with the other Slytherins, when were both heading up the stairs as the both were stopped by a group of Slytherin boys. They were looking at them with unfaltering grins upon their ghostly faces.

"How are you lot?" One grimy kid asked as he snorted similar to a pig. "Fitting in at Hogwarts already with Black and Droope?"

"Wouldn't you want to hang out with the big kids?" Another gruffed.

"We'd thought you lot would spend some time with us?" One of them laughed grossly.

But before any more could say anything more, the handsome Tom Riddle walked over to them.

"Good evening everyone." He addressed with a polite, yet seemingly nice smile, but Violet could see that his smile and words lacked the authenticity behind it. He seemed to take the air out of the room as the boys straightened up, and focused all attention onto him.

"Good evening." They all murmured. Was it just her or did all of the boys quickly tense up when Riddle walked to them. Guess that happens when there is a serial murdered near, Violet thought, relieved that his eyes were on the guys and not her.

"Avery, I thought that you would be doing the reading that Slughorn had assigned to us?" He asked the boys who were now becoming slightly pale.

"We were just about to head down to the Dungeons to finish it, Tom." Avery's automated response seemed to surprise them.

"Then I believe you should get to it." As soon as Riddle said this, everyone was suddenly leaving out of sight and wishing Riddle, Violet, and Harry goodnight.

"I am sorry if they were keeping you." Riddle now turned to them.

"They really weren't bothersome." Harry shrugged, focusing on Riddle.

"Alas they were not." Riddle mused as he looked upon the both of them with his beautiful deep blue eyes. "I feel like I did not have a proper chance to introduce myself." When they shook their heads, he smiled. "I am Tom Riddle." He held out his hand, and Harry instantly shook it.

"Harry Porter." He mumbled with a nod.

And then he turned his powerful gaze upon Violet, who felt her heartbeat kick up a few notches. Her body did not feel comfortable shaking hands with someone like him.  
"I am Violet Virk." She took his hand and was surprised to feel that it was rather warmer than she would have thought. She had always imagined him being ice cold like his eyes. But the way he smiled, a motion that seemed so forced, at her... she had a sick feeling that he could turn quite ice cold when he wanted to.

"Ah, it is great to have someone more different-" did she catch an emphasis, or was she imagining it while he noticed her accent? "among us."

"T-thanks." At this, she pulled her hand back a little sooner than she should have, that even Riddle seemed to be a bit thrown off in the tiniest way. She silently cursed herself for not being more normal around him. Why aren't you more calmer around the serial murder, Violet, she mentally thought.

"Now, that I have formally introduced myself, I hope to see you both around. I shall begin my Prefect rounds." Riddle stepped back and folded his arms behind his back. "It was a pleasure" again with the imaginary emphasis. "to meet you both."  
"Of course." Harry smiled politely as Violet just nodded.

"If you both need anything, do not hesitate to ask." Riddle let out a small, perfect smirk, and then turned away and left quickly as he had come.

As soon as he left, Violet turned to Harry, "Has he always been so…."

"Intense?" Harry finished her though with a nod. "Always."

"Harry...You know what I've realized?" Violet gulped when a sudden thought hit her.

"What? That look is not a good one." Harry questioned, stepping away from her.

"We don't know what time it is." Violet answered, looking at him.

"Well, Violet we just got out of dinner. So I suppose around eig-" Harry huffed with his eyebrows furrowed.

"No, that that time, you git!" Violet sighed, as Harry glared at her with surprise at the English insult.

"I mean date!" Violet then turned on her heel with Harry trailing behind her.

"How I am supposed to know that when you clearly said time? Can't we just ask someone instead of running around?" He panted as they raced up some stairs before they could change. "I just ate, and this will make my stomach hurt."

"Oh, yes, Harry! Why didn't I think about that." Violet hissed mockingly while turning around to face him, her brown hair following her rapid motion. "Because we definitely won't be seen as loonies asking for what year we are currently in!"

"Well, you don't have to be so rude..." Harry grumbled as the walked into a random classroom. "Now I gather we are looking for something that might show us what year it is." Violet just nodded while casting a Disillusionment Charm on them, and walking to the random Professor's desk.

"There must be something here that gives us an idea with what time we are in…" She thought aloud as Harry and her rummaged through the paperwork that they'd found. After twenty minutes, they still had not found a single dated homework assignment and they both let out a frustrated sigh.

"Now I understand why Snape made us date everything." Harry groaned. "Do none of these students ever date their papers?"

As silence was upon them, she thought about Harry's mention of Snape. She didn't get to know her Head of House as well as Harry did, but she remembered him well enough. She looked up, "Harry…?" Violet hesitantly asked.

"Hmm?" He grunted, still looking at the papers.

"..Why- why did you choose Slytherin instead of Gryffindor?" Violet quietly asked, watching Harry lift his head up to face her. They both had put their backs against the wall as they searched for assignments. The class was dimly lit, and they both felt exhausted.

"I..I don't think I had any other choice." Harry replied, briefly.

"What do you mean?" Violet scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion.

"Well, we have to get close to Riddle." Harry sighed, pushing the paperwork off his legs. "And there is no better way to get in his favor other than being in Slytherin."

"Oh…" She said, looking at him closely, as a silence befell onto them.

"Harry?" She began in a quiet voice as he looked up at her. "Do you think we're doing the right thing."

"Yes…" He shrugged, "And plus...When will I ever get the chance to be in Slytherin with you." Now Harry and Violet let out a smirk.

"Both very valid reasons." Violet remarked, turning down to her papers and Harry did the same. Just like before, they both silently tried looking for the dates.

"Violet…" Harry's voice strained. "I found the date."

"What?" Violet instantly jumped to her feet and headed over to him. "What is it?"

Harry's hand slightly shook as he whispered, "It's 1942."

"1942?!" She exclaimed while Harry looked intently at the page in his hand. Violet looked at the people who titled the date. Tom Riddle. 100/100, Of course he would be the one to sign and date his work while receiving the perfect score.

"V-Violet...I can't help but recall something." Harry mumbled, still nonplussed. "Isn't the years 1940-1945….Grindelwald's era?"

"Grindelwald." She gasped, as it felt like a boulder had just hit her head. "Wasn't that the dark wizard that-"

"Dumbledore defeated." Harry nodded. "Yes...And now we are in a time where the two most powerfully, dark wizards were formed."

Violet still was focused upon the paper, looking analytically at Tom Riddle's name.

"Harry...Isn't...This is Riddle's fifth year, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's a Prefect." Harry nodded.

"Isn't his fifth year when he.." She looked up at Harry's glistening eyes. "He creates his first Horcrux.."

"Yes. It is." It finally dawns on him as both began to get lost in their thoughts.

"Harry, we have to stop him." Violet determinedly nods. "We have to stop him from killing Myrtle and creating the diary into a Horcrux."

"According to the timeline, he kills her around...June." Harry tries to think back further. "June 13."

"Yes, so we have to stay here and stop him." Violet states again as Harry snaps his head up at her.

"Till June?" He repeats incredulously. "Blimey, that's a school year Violet. We cannot stay here for a year!"

"Harry, we have to!" Violet shook her head.

"Have to? Did you forget that we have to think about things back home?" He yells this time, getting to his feet.

"No, of course not but we do have to change things here too!" Violet follows him by standing up.

"I think that you keep forgetting that there is a war going on back home." Harry pointed out, his voice still strong. "You need to stop being idealist, and wake up."

"No, I am not! I am simply trying to direct your attention to the fact that the wizard who caused the war is walking the halls of this castle this very night, less than a few yards away." Violet crossed her arms.

"I don't have any concerns with a 15 year old boy, Violet!" Harry hissed.

"Well that 15 year old boy is the one who murdered your parents and killed most of our friends!" Violet snapped, but instantly regretted her cruel words.

"Well, I reckon you pay attention to Riddle as I look for a way to go back to the real world." Harry retorted while quickly turning on his heel and slamming the classroom door on his way out.

"Harry-I-wait!" She cried out in vain, but didn't try to run after him.

She sighed while slumping into the wall. This was the second time that her and Harry had argued this badly. They both had never had major problems, they always seemed to actually agree, yet now they could barely talk without getting into a tiff. She knew that he blamed her for bringing them here. Merlin, she even knew that she blamed herself for getting into this mess. Yet maybe this had been their second chance to eliminate Voldemort. It wasn't a farfetched idea to have. But Harry wanted to go back home. He wanted to be with their friends…She felt misery consume her as she thought about it.

Was she being idealistic? She had been known to be balanced in reality and ideals, but recently, Harry has been thinking she's going overboard. Within their friend group, she was always the one to declutter, she helped solve problems. Violet was the one who was the problem solver, therapist, and now she couldn't even help solve her own. Maybe Harry was right, she did have hug blind spots. She always believed that she could fix things, but what if she couldn't fix this? This was Harry's destiny to fix. She's only supposed to be there in support, and help him fight the good fight. But here she was, being selfish about staying in the past, even though she had an intuitive feeling that this is where they were supposed to be. She groaned loudly, feeling worse than ever about herself as she remained in the dark classroom even after Harry had left.

* * *

Hey, guys! I don't know how many of you are keeping up with this, but if you are THANK YOU. I really appreciate feedback, and I would urge you to please drop a review, letting me know what you want to read, things you liked or didn't like. These are great ways to for us to touch base, so I can continue writing with your suggestions in mind. I most likely will not be posting any other chapters until I get a little more feedback. Its a bit tedious to write and not see if the viewers are liking/not liking the material, so I just want to let everyone catch up and drop their comments before I post another chapter. And if you want, try answering these questions:

1). What would you want this novel to head?

2). What are some topics you'd want Violet, Tom, and Harry's characters to address?

3). Do you enjoy Violet and Tom's characters so far?

Thank you so much for reading, and have yourself a great day! Cheers!


	4. Emotions

Back with another chapter! Please do share any comments, requests, and suggestions. Cheers! :D

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Chapter 4-

Emotions:

emotions are what guide us through our lives. They can cause us to take certain courses of action. Without emotions, we would not have motives to complete tasks.

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Harry briskly paced in the corridors of the third floor, his robes trailing behind him. He wanted nothing but to go outside for some fresh air to clear his racing mind. He almost felt like running at this point, yet he remained to strut his way outside. He finally stopped as he saw the cloudy night sky.

She didn't get it. She really did not get it.

He knew that Violet has always been some sort of an idealist, dreaming of crazy possibilities that she will never see through. That was just a part of her personality that seemed to contradict her determined, albeit stubborn to the core, outlook. She had many paradoxes as a person. Yet every time he needed her, _whenever _he needed her, she had always been there for him. Always. There was never any doubt about her abilities to help him. Then why did he suddenly feel that she is not understanding the _severity_ of their situation?

They were stuck in the past. In the damn _past. _The thought alone could make him freeze and tense up beyond any belief. Then why did that fact not seem to sink into Violet's head? She instead told him that now was their chance to finally take down Voldemort, their chance to change the future. That was well and all with Harry; he wanted nothing more than to do just that. Defeat Voldemort, change the course of things, and finally let this excruciatingly painful this war end in order to help all those whom he loved...But what about those people back home that they've left?

Just as he thought of them, he stomach lurched and he realized that he had walked all the way to the Courtyard. He stumbled a few steps until he found a bench and sat down. Even though he rather not open the wounds, Harry still let his mind wander to Hermione, Ron, Neville, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Ginny...There, he felt a pang hit his heart as he thought of his fiery haired girlfriend. Then right after, his thoughts flashed to the bushy haired Hermione. And then to the silly goof Ron, who was probably eating right now as he thought about him. He let out a small smile, remembering them. Lastly, his thoughts settled on the ever so stubborn Violet. He then looked up at the sky and took a deep breath in.

It wasn't her fault. She hadn't meant this to happen. She only wanted to see if she could somehow unearth the secrets of the diary that might have helped them. She was only trying to help him. And now, Violet felt that their only way to get back is to somehow defeat Tom Riddle in this time, and maybe, just maybe, it would throw them back into their own reality. It was not such a bad plan that she had. Taking down Tom Riddle would reverse the horrible actions that Voldemort had done. Isn't that what the whole point was? To destroy Voldemort at any cost, regardless of any sacrifices that one had to make?

Yet they had not even talked about it. They had not even had the chance to figure anything out, let alone _plan _anything. As soon as they had landed here, they turned to Dumbledore, who in turn enrolled them into this school term. They had not even processed where they were when they first met Tom Riddle. Hell, it had only been about five measly hours since they have been here. Five hours and they both had managed to fight, make up, fight again and run off.

His thoughts trailed off back home. Harry realized that he had been home only five hours ago. He shook his head as if he was trying to shake the haziness away. Everything felt like it was going too fast. Being in the past, meeting Dumbledore, being sorted into Slytherin, and meeting the boy who was responsible for all his pain. It was too much to possibly take in a week, let alone five hours. He was barely coping with the fact that he saw his mentor, his almost like a father figure, Dumbledore alive, and now he had to deal with being in the past with Riddle. It felt like it was going too fast because it _is_ going to quickly. Doesn't Violet understand this?

But Violet must feel the same way as he did. Violet was only doing what they had all promised to do: eliminate the problem and then worry about the rest. Now, he suddenly felt guilty for attacking the one person who he had left by him right now. He felt guilty especially realizing that Violet is risking all that he is too, in order to help change the course of things. He felt himself sigh loudly, and he spent a long time time outside, staring into the dark night. He had a lot of thinking to do, and he finally felt like he had time to catch a breath, to process. He deeply breathed in and out, thinking about the severity of being in the past, but allowing himself to stay in the moment.

He cannot change the fact that he is in the past with Violet, the only thing they can do is just focus on their mission here. Dumbledore is going to figure out a way to send them back, so worrying about being back in the future is not going to help them. They must focus on being present in the past, Harry felt his eyebrows scrunch when he thought about the paradox of being present in the past. But alas this paradox held truth, and this is what Violet was trying to tell him, he realized. He opened his eyes when he heard small steps behind him.

* * *

"...Harry." She whispered when he turned and looked at her. Harry just simply nodded and motioned for her to sit next to him on the bench, it had been an hour since they last talked, and they both seemed to be cooled down enough to have a talk. When she sat down next to him, they both didn't say anything for awhile. It was getting cold out, and Violet crossed her arms, trying to stay warm.

"...I'm sorry, I understand what you were trying to say now that I had time to think about it." Harry said, still looking up.

"What?" Violet asked.

"I'm sorry for lashing out on you like that." Harry now looked at her through the thick darkness. "I shouldn't have done that."

"...It's fine." She shook her head, making out his eyes in the darkness. "You were frustrated and angry. I understand. I also provoked you with my stupid, insensitive comment."

"I know, but it still does not excuse my behavior. I was the one who instigated." Harry looked away again. "I forgot the fact that you, too, are going through the same things I am. We both are away from our friends...We are in the same position, and like you had mentioned before, we can't do anything about being in the past, so we will just have to focus on being present here."

"That's true." Violet nodded, "Dumbledore assured us about sending us back to the present. And even though I want to cry and scream about being here in this position, I think we should alleviate our anxiety by just simply being present here, and figuring out a way to survive until we have a definite plan."

"...I promise to be more supportive and open, as you have for me." He whispered.

"I thank you for standing with me. We just need time to process, this has all been way too much for his to take in within five hours. Let's get some sleep and talk about it tomorrow." Violet said. Then again, a comfortable silence fell upon them as they stared at the night sky that cleared up to uncover twinkling stars. But they were automatically alert when they heard a noise behind them which caused them to jump up and face none of then Tom Riddle.

"I am sorry." Riddle spoke in the darkness, his form almost melting into it. "I did not mean to startle you both."

"It's okay." Harry said, letting himself outwardly relax.

"Forgive me, but it is past curfew." Riddle jumped right to the point. "It is against the rules for students to wander the castle after hours. This means I will have to subtract 5 points each from Slytherin. Also, I must ask you to return to your dormitories."

"We were not aware of the rules and were lost." Violet thought quickly, so it did not seem so suspicious. "This is our first night in this huge castle, and we took a wrong turn and lost our way."

"Yes, we could not keep up with our other housemates after dinner." Harry went on with her lie.

"Ah yes, that is understandable." They could not tell if he bought it or not, due to his polite voice. "Let me guide you back to Slytherin's dungeons."

"Thank you, Riddle." Violet murmured as he began to turn around and she followed behind him as Harry trailed her.

As they all walked into the well lit castle, Riddle looked at them from the corner of his eye.

"I really hoped that Headmaster Dippet would have given you some sort of directions around the place." Riddle mused.

"Yes, but he was really busy, so we understand." Harry shrugged.

"Ah, yes, it seems so." Riddle nodded, perfectly absorbing every word. He was taller than Harry by many inches and even more so than Violet, who walked in between the two. He perfectly gilded as he walked, his back straight and hands folded behind. Riddle was one who held reserve, yet a powerful aura that can be sensed. "So, Headmaster Dippet mentioned you both were homeschooled. " This was not a question.

"Yes, we were." Violet looked onwards as she felt his stare, he was trying to size them up. "By the same tutor."

"I could not help but notice your accent. What made you change your mind and come to England?" He motioned towards Violet, his tone hinted curiosity.

"I have actually been here since I was twelve, and that is when I started to see our tutor." Violet thought up a lie, yet she felt her head starting to hurt. The thought made her eyes wide as she realized that Riddle was using Legilimency on her, yet she resisted his control.

"Then we started lessons together and we have been friends since." Harry must have caught on because his voice was slightly strained, only noticeable to Violet.

"And now you both have decided to come to Hogwarts." Riddle finally gave up after feeling their strong Occlumency reserve. He was most likely now sure that Harry and Violet were taught be either a great tutor, or they were thick headed with no thoughts.

"After our tutor became ill, we decided that it was best if we come to Hogwarts." Violet nodded, now peering a glance at Riddle who seemed to hang on every word.

They both knew that their story would be suspicious to him. If he was the Tom Riddle that they presumed him to be, then he was so much more analytical and manipulative than he lead onto be. Right now, he was keeping false pretenses in order to lower their guards as well as keep up his perfect facade. No, they knew that as they were speaking Riddle was probably trying to break into their minds and would be surprised to see that he couldn't penetrate their walls. This would automatically make him interested in Harry and Violet more than anyone else in the castle. Which meant that Harry and Violet had gotten what they wanted...They had irrevocable peaked Tom Riddle's interest.

When they finally approached Slytherin' common room, Riddle turned around and addressed them after their silent walk to the Dungeons. There was not a soul in sight, so they figured that the Slytherins must be asleep, which seemed to surprise them. Had they really been gone that late where everyone was off to bed? It appeared so because the common room had resonated no sound except the crackling of the fireplace.

"You both will see that arrangements for your arrivals have been made, and that your beds are ready." Riddle gestured towards the stairs which lead to the separate dormitories. "The boys dormitories are on the right whereas the girls are on the left. "Since I am Head Boy and a Prefect, I will need to remind you that neither gender can enter the other's room. Your rooms are also shared by four other students." Riddle politely went over all the rules that Violet and Harry had known since their first year, yet they appeared to be vigilant and nod at every rule. "Also, you will be given your schedule of classes by mail, and you will need to be at the Great Hall by 7:30." When Harry and Violet nodded, Riddle placed another fake, yet very believable, smile. "Now, I shall bid you goodnight for I have yet to complete my rounds." At this he stepped back, with a slight nod and turned away, disappearing into the dark; the poised routine.

When they had made sure that they were alone and that Riddle had left, Harry turned to Violet and whispered, "We don't even know what date it is _today_."

"Oh Merlin, you're right…" She slumped onto the leather couches as Harry sat in front of the chairs by the fireplace. "We should have just looked at the papers when we had a chance. Riddle had only dated the year too…"

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow when we get our schedule of classes." He grumbled with a note of disdain in his voice.

"Oh lord, I thought we would never have to say that again!" Violet complained, almost stomping the ground.  
"Well, at least we can count on Dumbledore to make sure our classes are the same as Riddle's." Harry mused. "It'll help us get closer to him."

At this Violet leaned over and whispered, "Harry...Do you think it'll work?" Before Harry answered, he casted a spell that she knew was a Silencing Spell, so no one would overhear them even though they knew no one could possibly be around here, even Riddle.

"...I don't know." Harry muttered, looking into the fire. "He seems to be very...dangerously _manipulative _and analytical…"

"I think he will know if we are trying too hard to get close to him." Violet thought aloud.

"Yeah.." Harry nodded. "I think we need to let him come to us. And by the looks of it, he already seems to be…._intrigued."_

"You think so?" She asked, looking into the fire as well.

"The fact that the two of us showed up out of nowhere, both were home schooled by the same teacher, both happened to be sorted into Slytherin after two Hatstalls, also both of us happen to be very skilled in Occlumency maybe even in Legilimency, and also lost in the castle while talking in the dark…" Harry looked up at her as she stared back. "Yeah, I think we've managed to be as suspicious as possibly while getting his attention." At this a small grin appeared on his face as Violet followed as well. "Let's not forget the fact that one of us is American as well."

"Oh man, we really do seem shady to say the least." Violet sat back shaking her head while the small grin still played on her face.

"Yes, just a lil bit." Harry grinned.

"Well, at least we got his attention." Violet now looked into the fire again. Again, none of them said anything until she spoke up again. "So...what is our plan?"

Harry sighed, "I was hoping you had one." They both looked at each other, and then the fire.

"I think we should just lay low, and try to assimilate into Hogwarts in this time. He'll be very intrigued, but we can just act normal, and try to get closer to him and his friends, very subtly. Since we can't do anything about being here, let's try and focus on our task here, which is to get closer to Riddle."

Before she could say anything else, they heard a small sound. Thinking that it might be Riddle again, Harry and Violet jumped out of their chairs and headed towards the stairs. They would not be helping their case if Riddle saw them talking again this late at night.

"We will talk whenever we have time!" Violet whispered, eyes still glued towards the entrance just in case Riddle walked in.

"Yes, I agree." Harry quickly said back. "Goodnight, Vi. I'll see you in the morning." She nodded as she patted his back and he left up the stairs while she did the same.

As Violet ran up the stairs, she realized that she had no idea where she would actually be staying. She turned to the first door and opened it to see that all the girls were already sleeping soundly in their beds. Then she turned to the next door only to see that the same thing occurred: all the beds were taken. She felt herself curse at Riddle for not telling her exactly where her bed was located, so that way she didn't have to carry her exhausted body door to door looking for her bed. For a minute, she even wondered if Harry was having the same luck as her finding his room. But then she shook her head and decided that no one had worse luck than her and that he had probably found his way to his place, successfully. She almost groaned loudly before a thought occurred to her.

_No, it couldn't._ She thought walking to the fifth door. Before she pushed the door open, she looked at the knob for a second, and then quietly turned the knob. She noticed the fourth bed was empty and had a suitcase sitting on top of it. She smiled widely and felt a rush of love for Dumbledore since he had given her her old room and bed. She would have to find a way to thank him profusely again for always looking out for her and everyone else in her life.

She carefully tiptoed her way to the bed and looked at the suitcase. She whispered Wingardium Leviosa and lifted the suitcase up from the bed, and placed it on the other side. She furrowed her brows as she saw that there was a note on the bed addressed to her. She picked it up and realized that it was from Dumbledore, himself. She smiled again as she read the note.

_Miss Violet Virk,_

_I hope that these clothes and suitcase will do for now. I will also be giving you your classes tomorrow. I wish you the best this following year._

_PS, I hear the Transfiguration Professor is quite the teacher. _

At this, Violet could almost see the old Professor's twinkling eyes with an amused smile. She really did look forward to taking his class from any other. She set the note down and prepared for bed. But just before she was getting in, she heard a voice that almost made her scream. Instead she fell back into bed, eyes like a toad.

"Sorry, Violet." Margot giggled groggily, snuggled up in the bed beside Violet's.

"Oh Merlin! Margot, you almost made me soil my robes!" Violet hissed with her hand on her chest, her heart slowly calming down from the scare.

"I'm sorry." Margot still had a smile on her face. "What happened to you after dinner? Alphard and I lost you and Harry."

"Well Harry and I were all kinds of lost." Violet muttered to her while climbing into the warm bed. She now realized how cold she truly was, but did not have time to process it until now. "We saw you guys heading out and tried to follow you, but you guys were gone. And a group of Slytherin boys stopped us from heading upstairs."

"Wow, was it Riddle and his gang of hooligans?" Margot now propped up herself on one elbow, looking intently at Violet, and then face palmed herself. "Wait, how can I expect you to know anyone? You're new here." Before Violet could respond, she went on. "I'm talking about fifth year dark haired _gorgeous _dark prince of a guy. Tom Riddle." Violet felt herself swallow at the description as she realized that that is exactly who Riddle is. A handsome Dark Prince, and she inwardly cringed at being so cliche.

"Yeah, I met him." Violet nodded, averting her gaze while biting her lip. "You think he's good looking?"

"Anyone with _eyes _can see that he is Salazar's gift on earth." Margot said as Violet's heart lurched at the irony of Margot's words. If only she knew that that was exactly where Riddle was from. "But I find him more…." Margot searched for the words.

"Creepy." Violet looked over to her.

"...Yeah. That would fit." Margot shrugged. "He just seems too perfect." Violet almost called out Riddle's facade, but decided that Margot already understands a bit of it. "But he's always seemed nice to me. His friends are horrible though."

"I saw them...well, minus Riddle." Violet told Margot.

"What did they say?" Margot lowered her eyes.

"Nothing, Riddle stepped in before." Violet shrugged.

"Yes, that sounds like them. Listening to his every command." Margot grimaced.

"So, what do they do that makes you upset?" Violet asked, even though she could guess.

"Well, they don't say anything to _me _really." She said. "But they pick on everyone who isn't a Slytherin though...I think it may have to do with who is a richer family and purebloods, but I really don't know…" Violet seemed shocked to learn that Margot had gathered this fact even though it was way too early for anyone to know about Riddle and the Death Eaters hate on everything less than Purebloods. "They pick on my friend in Ravenclaw. Oh, and they tend to say some rude comments to Alphard here and there, but they mostly just ignore him."

"Why Alphard?" Violet knew they answer again though.

"Well, Alphard is nice to everyone. He has the smooth talking and cool ability to talk to everyone and well loved among all the houses." Margot smirked, as if she were proud of him. "His cousins on the other hand are vile creatures in Riddle's posse."

"Hmm, I see." Violet nodded, but she ended up yawning loudly. She forgot how excruciatingly tired her body was.

"Oh, silly me!" Margot whispered loudly. "I forgot how tired you must be. Go to sleep and we will talk in the morning."

"Thank you, Margot." Violet smiled.  
"Yes, get all the rest you can because you will need it." Margot remarked, falling back on her bed again. "You have to catch up on the three weeks on this term that you missed."

"Three weeks?" She almost exclaimed, and the other girls silently groaned in their sleep at her loud voice.

"Yeah, tomorrow it'll be the 28 of September. Well almost four weeks if you look at it..." Margot amused, while her voice trailing back to sleep. "Goodnight." She then she was out.

Violet looked up at the ceiling of her four poster bed and tried to absorb all that she had seen just today. Just hours ago, she had been what her friends and Harry, eating dinner and making jokes. And now she was here, re-enrolled into Hogwarts, running into Tom Riddle, who was the sole reason that she had been here. She wanted to scream and cry about all that her and Harry would have to face, but she realized that there was no use in doing so. In the end, Harry and she would have to still somehow take down Riddle and find a way to reverse all the horrible things he had done. She took in some deep breaths to help calm down her accelerated heartbeat. Everything happens for a reason, so she and Harry had to be here for a reason. And she reminded herself that any time she got overwhelmed, she would just have to breathe and remember that everything happens for a reason.

She felt herself ponder more and more, trying to fight the sleep that was quickly consuming her. She still had to formulate plans, she had to quickly decide what to do. Her and Harry had to make sure that no one was suspicious about their story and avert anyone's attention from them for now. The more she thought, the more she started to drive herself insane. Her head began to pound loudly in her ears, and she had a sudden urge to just scream again. But instead she took a couple of deep breaths calmed down. She couldn't just act like a petulant child who constantly complained; she needed to hone her emotions and become more rational. She took a few more breaths and closed her eyes. And then, her busy mind slowly became quiet, and she quickly drifted into a deep sleep.


	5. Plans

Hello everyone, back with yet another chapter! Please do reach out with feedback, it's getting tougher to write, and I think I'll hold off on the chapters. I also wanted to ask if everyone would be interested in a Halloween theme in the next few chapters? I would love suggestions, as I have a few of my own already. Again, please do reach out, and hope you enjoy. Cheers!

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Chapter 5

Plans:

plans are made in order to carry out tasks. Without proper planning, one's ideal goal can be crushed and left in the dust. That is why planning is essential for success.

* * *

Violet grumbled as she heard the voices of the Slytherin girls around her. For a second, she believed she was back in her own time, hearing Ron's obnoxious laugh which annoyed her almost as much as the at Slytherin girls, who were chatting loudly so early in the morning. She was appalled that people could function so well, and eagerly in the morning. Violet has always been a sleep in until afternoon type of person, even back in Hogwarts her time, she would take classes which would fit her schedule. Violet sighed loudly, which was drowned out by the other voices, and put her pillow over her head, hoping she could meditate herself to sleep.

But she then felt a small tug on her leg, and a voice perched, "Wake up, Violet, it is almost time for breakfast."

Her eyes shot open, and she woke up to none other than her new roommate, Margot. Violet screeched as she saw all the girls in their robes already, "What?" She honestly thought that maybe she still had some time to wake up in peace, and that maybe the girls were just eager to get ready in the morning.

"We're all heading to breakfast, and you didn't wake up when I asked if you were going earlier." Margot shrugged, as Violet jumped out of bed heading to the restroom.

She could not believe that she was still running late after all these years of forcing herself to get up early for some of her morning classes.

"Thanks, Margot, we're heading to a great start so far…" Violet grumbled as she walked away into the restroom.

"I heard that, and it's not my fault that you sleep talked me into thinking you didn't want to eat!" Margot laughed it off with a shrug. "If you're early, I'll save you a seat, but I am heading out since I actually enjoy food."

Violet peaked back into the room, "Margot, future reference, never believe whatever I say in my sleep." Margot rolled her eyes with a grin, leaving the room. When Violet thought about food, she grumbled and regretted waking up late even more so than before. "I'll meet you there soon!" She hollered, as the girls exited the room.

Violet went back into the room and looked around while a wave of nostalgia hit her. She realized how much she had missed this place. As she looked around the green and gray Slytherin room, she thought back to all the memories she had made in the place. Once she got ready, she realized that maybe it was not such a bad reason to miss breakfast.

As she walked out of the Slytherin dungeons, she slowly walked about the castle. She could see that everyone must be at breakfast, as usual, since she didn't see many people. But that did not bug Violet as she walked through the corridors. Her heart chirped along with the birds and the beautiful blossoming trees. She gazed long and hard at the castle walls which stood tall and sturdy. There was much magic and mystical feelings in the air, and she loved the breeze in the air. Nothing like what they've been reduced to in her time. And that's when the realization hit her.

She wasn't looking at the same Hogwarts of her time, she was looking at Hogwarts in the past. Suddenly, the birds were not chirping and dancing anymore, and she was sitting in eerie silence that she had enjoyed a moment ago.

But just as she became uneasy, she heard footsteps right behind her. And when she turned, she saw none other than Harry. They both looked at each other with a smile, as he walked over to her.

"What are you doing here?" Violet asked as he joined her by taking a seat.

"Just about the same thing you're doing, Vi." He grinned as he looked around the castle, and then at her.

"If that is true, then it means you came across the same feeling as I did." Violet felt her smile falter.

Harry nodded, "Of course, how can we not compare it to how it is in...our time." And the last few words just simply whispered. They both then let silence fall into their conversation as they looked around the castle walls. All the memories of running around, joking with each other came back. They both could see their friends all heading to class together, and being fairly late as usual. Hermione would be so angry at the fact that they had made her late, as Harry, Ron, Violet, and Ginny would roll their eyes and continue to play pranks on each other.

Then there was a loud thud, and they both whipped their heads around to see a group of Slytherin boys crowding around another boy, who was on the ground with his books sprawled out in front of him. Before they could say anything to them, Riddle appeared out of nowhere, and the group of Slytherin boys instantly stopped, without Riddle even uttering a single word. He merely looked at them with cold eyes, and both Violet and Harry felt a shudder from Riddle's stare even at such a distance.

Harry and Violet could see that Riddle's lips swiftly moved, and the Slytherins quickly left, as the boy still remained on the ground, slowly getting up.

"What was all that about?" Violet whispered.

"Let's get just to class." Harry moved up, and started to walk away from the scene. As he got up, Violet also started to quickly move before Riddle could spot them. As she was leaving, she turned around to see if Riddle had seen them, and as soon as she turned, she felt the cold eyes of Riddle following them with his gaze. Violet was embarrassed to admit that she felt glad when they walked into the corridor, and Riddle's gaze was cut off from their receding forms.

* * *

Thankfully for them, Harry had remembered that their first period was potions with none other than Professor Slughorn.

When they both entered the class, Slughorn put down his wand and potion book and addressed them immediately. He motioned for them to walk up to the front of the classroom.  
"Ahh, you both must be new students." He grinned at Harry and Violet, while they nodded. He still looked exactly the same as they had seen him in their own time, and they both witnessed an odd feeling of relief at seeing another face from their time.

"Well, let's get you seated and whatnot." And he pointed towards the classroom, and then Harry and Violet finally felt the curious gazes of their new classmates. As Violet scanned the room, she noticed that she met eyes with none other than Riddle. Wasn't he just outside? She felt her face begin to scrunch, but stopped herself when Slughorn told her to go sit next to Margot Droope, leaving Harry to sit next Charlus Potter, the only other seat which was available.

Harry started to make his way over to Charlus, and Violet went over to Margot who brightly smiled, and moved her things over for Violet to sit down.

"I'm ecstatic at this arrangement!" Margot whispered giddily.

"Not when someone forgets to wake me up for breakfast," Violet joked. Even though it was really early on to make friends in this time era, Violet was glad that she encountered someone like Margot rather than the other Slytherins.

When she looked over to Harry, she saw that Harry and Charlus had also introduced themselves to each other. Violet thought how maybe it would be a great idea for Harry to actually get to know one of his ancestors through this experience. When she turned her gaze back to Slughorn, she caught Riddle's gaze again, staring back deeply at her. As she snapped her head back to the front of the room, she felt a slight twinge in her head, and she felt that he was almost trying to perform legilimency on her again. She felt weirded out at how much she and Harry were catching his attention, but given how suspicious their arrival was, it made sense why he would be so allured. She felt relieved when Slughorn began to talk, and the discomfort she felt went away.

"Go on now, and let's get started!" Slughorn cheerfully urged, as he continued to read aloud instructions of the potion he was brewing.

Class had ended as quickly as it began, and instantly Margot started to talk to Violet about how exciting it was to be in the same class as her. Violet realized that Margot was an anomaly, she was actually a nice Slytherin. But then she realized that Slytherins didn't have much tension back in the past, before Voldemort. Some of them were into having pureblood lineages, but the hate wasn't as strong as her time. Because they didn't have a leader, Violet thought, briefly looking back at Riddle.  
"What do you have after this?" Margot asked, while packing up her stuff, and Violet looked back at her.  
"Hmm, let me check," Violet pulled out her schedule, "I have Defense Against the Dark Arts, lunch, and then Transfiguration, and Astronomy."  
"Oh that's nice, hopefully you didn't miss out on much!" Margot reminded Violet as she groaned and started to walk towards the front of the room. "Where are you going?"  
"I'm going to talk to Slughorn about what I missed." Violet waved bye, as the class emptied out the room. "I'll see you in a few."

Professor Slughorn noticed bother Harry and Violet approach, and smiled, "Ah, and how are you both liking Hogwarts so far?"

"It seems to be going magically so far." Violet pursed a matching smile, as Harry nodded in agreement.

"Well, that is great to hear, so what can I do for you?" Slughorn asked, peering from his glasses.

"Well Professor, we were just wondering what we missed so far?" Harry asked, as he compressed an inner groan. Why did they have to do this _all over again?_

"Yes, we were just thinking about completing everything as soon as possible, so we don't fall too behind." Violet stated feeling the same as Harry.

As Slughorn stared at their faces, he pursed his lips as he picked up on their reluctancy, "Hmm, how about this, m'boy? Since I'm sure you both will be _very _disappointed by this… I will excuse your past assignments" Harry and Violet instantly smiled and grinned towards each other. But as Slughorn went on, he raised his eyebrows, "_But _since we want to make sure that you both are learning and catch up, you will be in pairs with two other students in class tomorrow. Does that sound fair?"

Harry and Violet shrugged, and nodded, "Alright, so I will let you know about your partners tomorrow, now you both carry on."

They both nodded, and left to their next class.

* * *

"We're very lucky!" Violet exclaimed, while walking with Harry to their DADA class.

"I know, I'm very surprised, but now we have all these other classes to worry about." Harry grumbled. "I can't believe we have to do this all over again, Vi."

"Please don't remind me." She grimaced, "We just need to take it one day at a time, Har, I think that's all we can do until we come up with a master plan."

They swiftly walked through the corridors, and passed students along the way, laughing carelessly. Why couldn't they both have that childlike innocence?

"I agree.." Harry trailed on. "Vi...I got a headache today in class.."

Violet whipped around her head, "I thought I was the only one!"

"It's him." Harry declared as they walked through a doorway into another hallway. "He's doing it. He's curious about us."

"Harry, I think we need to alleviate the tension and suspicion he or anyone might have on us." Violet suggested, "As much as I want to do something, we need to fall under the radar as much as possible, so we can start the real work."

"I think we should try and befriend-" Harry began, as he got cut off.

"Befriend him?" Violet cut him off, "Harry, I _cannot_ befriend someone like him! He's very dark, and I really start getting ang-"

"Will you actually let me finish?" Harry snapped, cutting her off, and Violet closed her mouth. "I was going to say we should befriend others here, so that it cuts down the suspicion, and makes us look like normal students. I saw you talking to Margot. She looks nice, and you should keep getting closer to her. Not only does it help cut suspicion, but also helps knowing what has been going around here."

"Yes, that sounds like a reasonable plan." She nodded, "And I saw you talking to Charlus Potter…And Alphard Black" She bit her lip, and looked at Harry's face which became more hard; those two were basically his ancestors. "You should talk to them more."

"I was planning on it. Hopefully they can look pass the whole Slytherin thing." He nodded, " And I was also going to try and talk to Riddle's gang a bit more."

"Riddle's gang?" Violet questioned before they entered the classroom.

"Yes." Harry put his hand on the door, and before pushing it open, he stated, "If I could win some of them over, then maybe I can win him over."

* * *

Although the day went by fast, Violet had to convince herself that it was not as draining as she felt it was. There was a lot of information that kept floating around in her head from school, classes, to how to save the world and how to defeat the dark lord… It often varied with how mentally worn out she was, and how she would prioritize her feelings.

All of her classes went well, and she finally got to eat with Harry, Margot, and Alphard. It was nice to have normal conversations, and occasional laughter with the two other Slytherins. She had even seen Professor Dumbledore in Transfiguration, where he gave her and Harry a twinkling smile. Harry and her had all the similar classes, and her roommate Margot had two out of the four classes with her as well. Unfortunately for her, Riddle was in most of her classes, and she'd bet on her life that it was hardly a coincidence that he would be in each class. Maybe that is the way Dumbledore intended it to be for her and Harry.

At the moment, she was finally back in her room for a moment of complete silence and retreat. She fell onto her bed, and just stared at the ceiling without much thought. Her eyes traced the Slytherin colors and patterns on the four poster bed, and she let her mind just shut down and relax. She meditated and breathed deeply; she realized that she really needed moments to be alone throughout the day. It helped centered her and calm her, as she was an introspective person, regardless of her extroverted personality. But alas, a thoughtless mind cannot always remain silent, and her thoughts drifted back to her reality.

She was forty years in the past.

She was forty years in the past where the darkest wizard to ever exist was attending Hogwarts, and it's up to Harry Potter (who had to be under an alias- Harry Porter) and her to find a way to take the dark wizard down, and return to their time? If that sounded confusing, then the point was made: _it is confusing. _She felt her head beginning to hurt again.

How is she going to take down Lord Voldemort? How was she going to return to the present time? How was she going to catch up in all her classes? How was she going to make friends? How was she going to get close to Riddle? How is she supposed to make sure her and Harry get back? How was she going to know that her friends back in her time are okay? How was she going to pass her O. this time around? All of these thoughts rummaged through her head which was pounding so badly that Violet had ended up in fetal position without even realizing can she do? She wanted to cry and scream at this predicament, but reminded herself to calm down because it wouldn't help her if she kept freaking out.

She felt tears well up in her eyes, and she was about to just let out a sob when she heard footsteps and voices of the Slytherin girls coming into the room. Violet quickly blinked away the tears, and shot up, grabbing the bookbag that Dumbledore had given her along with her suitcase.

"Why hello!" Margot chirped as soon as she walked into the room, and made her way towards Violet.

"Hello hello." Violet smiled looking up at Margot, and the Slytherin girls all stifled a quick nod of acknowledgment and went on their ways to their beds.

"So, how was your day?" Margot plopped onto her own bed, and stared at Violet with kind eyes. Violet could not believe how kind Margot was, Violet was lucky to find someone who was that nice. The other Slytherin girls mostly kept to themselves.

"It was a day." Violet laughed. "It was long, and tedious. All of the professors minus Slughorn, have given me a couple of assignments to turn in." She sighed, reaching into her bag and grabbing books. "These are all the books I need to read and write on."

"Bloody hell, I feel very sorry for you." Margot grimaced. "The bright side is that we can finally have dinner."

"And those are the best words I've heard all day." Violet laughed following Margot as she hopped up.

"Did I tell you that you have the strangest way of talking?" Margot remarked inquisitively.

"Must be an American thing." Violet coughed, realizing that she has been speaking the language and terms of her own time.

* * *

At dinner, Violet reconnected with Harry and Margot. Harry was sitting next to Alphard Black and a couple of Riddle's goons, who all stifled a nod towards her as she just politely smiled back. Riddle was there too, looking stoic and cold as usual. He even met eyes with her in disinterest, looking quickly away, and making her wonder if she actually even met eyes with him in the first place. He was very hot and cold.

Violet sat down next across Harry, and next to Margot who asked Harry the same questions as she did to her earlier. Alphard Black turned to Violet, and talked to her about her day. Violet could tell that Alphard was also very similarly kind to how Margot was, and Violet then understood why they both were such good friends. Their friendship reminded her of Harry and herself, the type of friends that could always joke and hang out together, but be supportive and comforting all the while. Although the talk seemed to fade away when the food was served, the four still remarked at how good the food was occasionally as the other Slytherins chimed on as well.

After dinner, Margot and Alphard got up and asked Harry and Violet what they were going to do.

"We were going to go to the library and pick up one more book that we needed." Harry quickly answered as Violet nodded, covering him. She presumed that he most likely wanted to talk to her as much as she wanted to talk to him. Surely, she wasn't the only one losing her sanity.

"Okay, we'll see you both in the common room then?" Alphard asked scrunching his eyes in a very slight suspicion. If Harry and Violet were anyone else but their analytical selves, they would have missed that Alphard was a bit suspicious with them as well as other might have been.

"Yes, we'll be there very soon." Violet said, walking away with Harry into the opposite direction of Alphard and Margot.

Harry navigated them into the Courtyard, at the same spot they were last time, and casted a Silencing Charm in order to block out their voices in case anyone approached them. They did their best on making sure they were not followed or watched.

"Vi, we need to make a plan not to be suspicious, and to actually know what we're doing." Harry started, still looking around to make sure no one was around.

"I agree, Harry. We need to make a plan because I don't think I will be sane if I keep thinking about everything." Violet sighed. "I think I'm going to lose my mind, Harry in some moments."

"I understand what you feel, Vi, I'm there too right now. I don't know what to think about, and so my thoughts are a combination of all the insane things that are happening to us." Harry started to shake his leg. "I don't know if I can keep thinking, or I might literally have a mental breakdown."

"I feel it too. I want to just crawl into a bed, and just sleep it all away, and we haven't even been here longer than 24 hours." She felt tears sting her eyes. "What should we do?"

"Let's make a plan." Harry nodded. "Think of it this way. We cannot go back home yet. Even if we wanted to go back, we cannot since we have no idea how we could get back. I think we should let Dumbledore think of a way, like a time turner or something, but for now..We have to keep calm and devise a way to make sure that we do not lose our heads here." When Violet nodded, he went on, " I thought about what you said about stopping Riddle…. I want to."

"Really?" Violet looked at him

"Yes, I want to stay here, and find a way to stop him from getting to that point. I know it might mess up the timeline, but I believe we're here for a reason." When Violet was about to say something about how they got there, Harry went on. "We can think about those possibilities later. I know we want to know how we got here, but right now, let's just focus on the now."

"I agree with you. And I think that we should just try and figure out what has been going on here." Violet added. "We need to know what has been going on in this era in order to take Riddle down, and figure out a way to ultimately get back. But for right now, let's just be normal students, reliving our fifth year. Let's just make friends, get to know what we're up against with Riddle, and then come up with something once we've gotten a good dosage on how to approach him. We need to alleviate all of the suspicion anyone and everyone has on us."

"Exactly. Let's just play this game of being normal students, and then slowly work our ways to his inner group. I'll talk to his posse, Alphard Black, and so on in order to get to him, and you remain friends with the Slytherin girls." Harry pointed at her. "Another thing, keep vigilant since he is trying to read our minds, so we need to stay strong."

"Yes, I have been keeping my guard, and we will continue to work upwards." Violet agreed. "But I do think you should also talk to Charlus Potter since you now have the opportunity to meet your grandfather. Even if some of the students might get suspicious of a Slytherin talking to a Gryffindor, I think if you join the Quidditch team, they'll see it as good sportsmanship."

Harry smiled, "I was counting on it. Also with Alphard too...I think it'll be nice.." They both felt another comfortable silence fall as they both felt a little more relieved than they did before. It felt good having a plan in motion, and now they would just focus on implementing it.

"Do you think we can do this?" Violet asked Harry, looking up at the stars.

"Well, good thing we completed our fifth year, so it shouldn't be so hard, right?" Harry grinned. "Now let's go before people get suspicious."

Both Harry and Violet headed towards the Dungeons, but then Harry stopped on the second floor.

"What's wrong?" Violet asked, looking back at him. Harry looked at her with a toothy grin, motioning at his stomach.

"Duty calls." Harry grinned walking away to the boys bathrooms.

"Are you serious?" Violet rolled her eyes. "You have great timing."

"Can't control the digestive system, Vi." Harry laughed, walking towards the restrooms. "I'll see you in the common room!"

VIolet scowled and started walking towards the direction of the Dungeons. She realized that no one was in sight, and actually wondered where everyone had gone.

"_Hmm, how odd.." _Violet thought, "_Better not get caught."_

And just when she felt a strange feeling that she was not alone in the corridors anymore. Her body sensed that she was being watched, and the fact that she didn't know the type of danger this old Hogwarts reality had, it made her feel even more nervous. Trying not to panic, Violet picked up her speed, and silently cursed Harry for leaving her alone.

'_Hope you're enjoying pooping, Harry, while I'm murdered over here!' _she thought, clutching onto her wand just in case.

She could see the reflection of herself as she walked, and she felt that someone was behind her. If it were possible, she picked up her speed even more so, and it was as if she was almost jogging. And she quickly turned into another hallway, looking back to find nothing was there. She felt herself let out a breath in anticipation. She was merely feeling off since she feared the unknown in this old Hogwarts. She shrugged her shoulders and took as breath in, but when she turned back around, Violet almost clashed face first into none other than Tom Riddle.

"Miss. Virk." Riddle addressed with a polite nod, while wide eyed Violet was about to pass out with the amount of fear she had in her heart about being followed and almost crashing into Riddle. Violet all but let a small gasp out, although she didn't want Riddle to know how scared she was, she felt her body shudder.

"Oh, you came out of nowhere!" Violet chirped, trying to regain her composure.

At this Riddle's lips slightly tinged upwards, as if he was suppressing the tiniest smile. He liked making people feel scared, and she could not tell if how much was fake or forced, but he apologized in concern, "Oh I apologize. I was merely completing my rounds, and I heard someone approaching."

"I'm sorry, I got lost coming from the library…" Violet uttered, still looking stiffly at Riddle who towered over her from the distance.

"I can escort you back to the Slytherin Dungeons since it is past curfew." At this, Riddle turned his back, and walked forward. Even though Violet was scared before, suddenly she got slightly irritated at how Riddle started to walk in front of her. It made her feel as if he was undermining her for being a scared young woman. It was a very passive aggressive masculine jester that she wasn't used to in her time. Even though she didn't want to draw even more attention to herself, Violet quickly picked up her speed in rejection to his toxic masculine display of walking in front of her. Violet peered at Riddle through a sideways glance, and noticed that his lips seemed to twist just a slight bit which made her think she was yet again imagining things. She was going to start losing her mind thinking she was seeing things.

"How was your first day?" Riddle politely asked.

"It was..a day" Violet struggled to keep up with Riddle, who had long legs to take long strides, yet she didn't slow down. Violet realized that she was so scared earlier when walking alone thinking someone was following her, and yet here she was trying to outwalk the darkest wizard for her time. And then suddenly her legs started to falter and slow down when she realized that earlier this was the danger she was trying to avoid, him. The same fear now crept in as she felt the dark, cold presence of Riddle next to her. In order to step away from the fear, she picked up her speed again, "And I have many things to catch up on. Hopefully this year is not too difficult."

"Ah yes, but you will surely do fine." Riddle suddenly stopped, and nodded to the direction of the Dungeon entrance. "There are the Slytherin Dormitories, Miss Virk." He plastered on his trademark smile that he used for all the professors and students that he was trying to fool. Objectively, he was very charmingly handsome. Although everyone buys that perfect smile, Violet got a chill when she realized that Riddle was almost hiding a sneer behind the smile. It was like a snake, ready to attack.

There was the chill again, the feeling of unsettlement crawled up Violet as she turned and looked the Dungeons, and then back at Riddle, "Thank you, Riddle." She walked towards the door, and when she turned to say goodnight, there was nothing in sight. He was already gone.

When Violet walked into the common room, she realized that no one was awake anymore. She did not even bother to check the time, and went straight up into her room. She was still really flustered as to why Riddle always caught her in the middle of the night, and creeped her out with his dark presence. She hated that someone made her feel that way. Even though this is a reaction that everyone has with Riddle, it bugged Violet that she felt so threatened by the young wizard, who she was older than in this current time. To her, it seemed that Riddle almost fed off of the fear that many people had of him. She did not want to play into his fantasies of being a helpless little girl, so she promised herself that she was going to stand strong as the young woman she was. She then vowed to herself that she would not let that _guy _make her feel like a small little child.

Violet walked into her room, and realized that all the lights were off minus the little candles on the nightstand. She quickly sat on the bed when she heard a small voice call out to her.

"Oh you're back?" Margot questioned, looking at Violet's hands. "Where is it?" When Violet looked confused, she added, "The book you needed?"

Violet almost turned red, but due to her tan skin, no one could see, "Oh, they didn't have it."

"The library didn't have it?" Margot questioned, while Violet wondered why this girl was up still.

"Go to sleep." Violet grumbled as she climbed into bed, and turned around. Although she wanted to spend time analyzing her encounter with Riddle, she was reminded of what Harry and her decided. Normal students.

Now a normal student wouldn't be up wondering why the dark wizard is especially intimidating and stalking her, right? And with this, Violet quickly used that excuse to finally drift off into sleep.


	6. Turn of Events

I keep saying that I'll hold off on posting chapters until I get feedback, but I keep coming back, haha

I really enjoy this story, and would like to shout out Rayne for being amazing and always providing feedback, I'm legit writing for her, haha

Anyways, hope you enjoy, cheers!

* * *

Chapter 6:

Turn of Events

* * *

That morning Violet was woken up by Margot again, but thankfully for her, she was actually on time today. Even though Violet slept comfortable, she still did not feel as if she really _rested_. As if anyone could rest knowing everything she did, she thought, but then quickly shook her head to get up and dress. She and Harry had promised they'd take things one at a time. Violet had slowly got up to change, and follow the rest of the Slytherin girls to breakfast.

Although her other Slytherin roommates were seemingly cold, they did not completely disregard her as they walked over to the Great Hall. They had even introduced themselves to her: the tall black haired one was Miriam Parkinson, the sharp blonde was Rachel Greenhouse, and the brunette was Elizabeth Davis. The moment she head their last names, she realized that she was meeting Pansy Parkinson's, Daphne Greenhouse, and Tracy Davis' great relatives. Suddenly it made sense to her why she felt that they looked and acted familiar, but there was another girl with them that stood out from the rest. The girl had sleek brown hair, that seemed to be modeled out of a magazine, always remaining perfect. She had deep green eyes, sleek and slender height of a model. In all, she was aesthetically attractive, and her persona revealed that she knew this. Violet vaguely remembered her name from the Hogwarts yearbooks before, Olive Hornby.

"Are you finally going to do it?" Rachel pointedly questioned Miriam as Elizabeth laughed.

"No, she's too scared of being rejected!" Elizabeth snickered pointing at Miriam. Violet had to contain her eye roll at their behavior when Margot looked at her and winked, enjoying how childish the girls were. It is as if they wanted Violet to interject and ask them about what they are talking about. They're behavior seemed childish compared to what she had seen with other students, but maybe that was a good thing: teenagers being teenagers.

"Do what?" Margot caved, pretending to question them doe eyed, fooling the other girls to think she actually cared.

"You both first ask out Cygnus Black and William Bathory and, then I'll do it!" Miriam shot back with a smirk.

"Who is that?" Violet asked, without thinking about it, and the girls all stopped and stared at her.

"'Who is Cygnus Black and William Bathory?'" Rachel shirked out, exaggerating. "They are only the richest handsome boys in our entire school!" Violet's eyes widened at how dense these girls could be, where behind them, Margot made puking gestures as if to insinuate how nauseous the boys they were talking about actually were. In moments like these, Violet almost forgot that she was actually a teenager, and these girls were simply acting her age...even if Violet didn't act her age. She almost found the conversation rather amusing and refreshing compared to her normal life and death conversations with her friends back home and Harry, who all could only focus on surviving a war. While listening to them, Violet actually finally began to feel her age for a moment. She looked over to Olive, who seemed to stride near them, as if she was on a runway.

"And plus, I'm over Cygnus Black." Miriam flipped her hair behind her. "I now want to see Tom Riddle." All of the sudden, Elizabeth and Rachel howled with laughter as Violet let out a big eye roll behind them. This caught Olive's eye because she looked over to Miriam, who looked almost worried as if Olive was going to say something. For Violet, the comment made her snap back to her own reality when the young dark wizard was mentioned. The reality of her situation always had a way of always coming back.

"Tom Riddle?" Margot questioned, clearly amused by the talk.

"Yes, he's the one that I want. We spent a lot of time together." Miriam stuck her nose in the hair.

"As if! He spent one hour with you in the train, and suddenly, you think he'll be in love with you." Rachel snickered

"You wish it was you, don't you." Olive finally spoke up while the other girls quieted down. "I don't remember Tom being fond of you when you asked him to Hogsmeade when the term started." Olive's voice almost didn't match her face since there was a shrill to it that made the other girls hush."I actually talked to Tom, and we both get to meet during our Prefect rounds. He said he'd go with me to Hogsmeade soon, so you shouldn't bother really."

She was used to being attractive and wanted/liked by people, so she needn't try hard. She could most likely even get someone stoic as Tom Riddle to feel something, even if it was below his belt, as crude as it sounded. Violet looked at Olive, who didn't even notice she was there. In theory, Olive and Tom would make a fine couple, they have the steely model looks, but there was a big lack of substance there.

_Of course you'd want the darkest wizard of all time to go out with you. Shows how much you know what you're signing up for, _Violet thought with yet another deep sigh. She wasn't the least bit intimidated by the girl, she was used to meeting diverse personalities. If anything, she actually felt more assured in herself when others try to be intimidating; it reminded her to stand in her grace. She understood the other girl's sentiments well, after all, they were practically the same age. She understood that people crave to be admired, loved, and perceived to be attractive, but ever since her and her friends began this war, she stopped desiring these normal human emotions. Now, she wanted substance and actual depth in life. _I guess trauma and war makes you lose that part of yourself that craves attention.. _She wondered, somberly as the girls went on to talk around her. It was a good thing that she didn't have an ego that wanted to outshine everyone, but it made her realize how much the trauma in her life grazed over the normal teenager emotions that she could have had. She looked at the girls trying to compete with each other, and then decided that maybe it was a good thing she had confidence in herself.

"Good luck, Miri, you'll need it against Olive." Elizabeth laughed. "Guess this means I can take Cygnus now."

At this Margot and Violet just stepped back, and let the girls walk on bickering with each other. Violet let her thoughts wander as Margot laughed at how foolish those girls were.

"Well, that conversation woke me up." Violet sighed after she shook herself out of the dark thoughts. There was no point in dwelling on the darkness in her mind if she had to still figure out how her next move.

"I cannot believe how shallow and funny they are." Margot laughed.

"Look, I am not a pessimistic person, but I don't see many things working out in this life" Margot let out a haughty laugh, "_But_ I wish them the best in their pursuit of those boys. I guess I just wish them better luck with whoever they end up with since everyone deserves the best. Let's leave it at that." Violet shrugged.

"Violet, you were going to lose your eyes at how much you rolled them at them." Margot giggled.

"Well, I honestly just don't see the appeal. I mean, I guess looks are a plus, but shouldn't you know someone better before pursuing them? It's not just about looks and personality sometimes, it's about chemistry and alignment. I think I would want to make sure whoever I'm with aligns with my life and my pursuits...But honestly, I don't think I'll ever get there..." Violet rambled on as Margot looked at her wondering how strange Violet was.

"Maybe _it is _an American thing. Okay, alright, let's get to breakfast, Aristotle." Margot dragged Violet towards the Great Hall.

* * *

It seemed that Harry had quickly gotten to know Charlus Potter since Harry waved to him from across the hall. Many seemed to be a bit confused to why Harry and Charlus developed a quick friendship, but after they saw Harry on the quidditch field, they understood. Harry had surprised almost everyone in the benches.

Even though Violet was happy to see Harry being his old self again, she could not help but roll her eyes a bit at how confident Harry was on the field. There he was, being Harry Potter. It made her smile, but roll her eyes as well. Because maybe it had to do more with her than his confidence that made her the tiniest bit...jealous. She should be happy that she was at least feeling human emotions that she was worried about when she was with the Slytherin girls, but this was more complex.

It was the fact that people had already almost developed a liking to him. Harry was just one of those people who could never just be unseen or normal. It was amazing how much his presence exuded confidence and self-awareness, even though he felt like the weird kid. In reality, it was how Violet felt. Even though Violet was an easy going and well liked girl, she often felt as if she was taking up too much space and felt strange and uncomfortable with attention. She liked having attention on her, not the arrogant type, but the one where she would be the jokester or the goofy one. But then it would send her into a frenzy when she started to feel as if people were judging her, or seeing all her flaws at once. Who was she kidding, she was also always the center of attention due to her friends Ron, Hermonie, Harry, Luna, Neville, and their presence. Like she had thought earlier, it could be that the trauma and pain was always written on them, because people always seemed to notice them. It was as if they were displayed in the room, and all analytical eyes would look at them. Yes Harry received attention for his presence, but Violet's aura almost demanded attention. She was different than most girls her age at Hogwarts, especially in the past. She was a tan, curvy and athletic girl from America. If that didn't scream "look at me!" then she didn't know what did. Sometimes it was hard being different than others, but she always embraced it, even in the hardest of moments. And her voice always seemed to announce her before she had a chance. Like they say, Americans talking are Brits screaming. It was confusing the allurement she had, but it made sense when people would talk to her.

So now put two people who always received attention in a new school together, and just imagine how people inquired about them. So when Harry tried out for the team, and got the position after being in the past for three days...It didn't lessen the fact that more attention was drawn to him now. Yes it made him more 'normal', but how normal can a great quidditch player be?

So after tryouts, Violet, Harry, Alphard and Margot walked to class, talking about how amazing Harry had been. Margot and Alphard could not believe how amazing Harry was while Violet kept suppressing eye rolls as Harry smirked at their praises. This whole eye rolling thing was new territory for Violet who always seemed to rather sigh than roll her eyes.  
'_Oh well, new era, new me...or is it old era, old me?_...' She rambled on in her head, but then shook herself out of it to catch the group endlessly complimenting Harry whose head was ready to fly off his shoulders due to the amount of praises he was getting.

"Okay, you can stop now, I think his head might blow up with all the compliments." Violet sighed as they headed to Slughorn's class.

"I think you guys can keep going." Harry grinned, taking in all the glory while looking at Violet as they approached the door to Slughorn's classroom.

* * *

"Today, we will be pairing up into group partners." Slughorn cheerfully clapped his hands as the students in the class either sighed with relief or groaned with annoyance. The class was all situated into their assigned seats, and Slughorn had moved them from yesterday. Violet and Harry a row apart, with Harry sitting behind Violet's row, next to Alphard; they both smirked at each other when Slughorn mentioned groups. Violet sat next to Rachel Greenhouse who doodled away on the desk, and Violet wondered if she was drawing Cygnus or William in the hearts. Violet hoped that her partner wasn't Rachel, who would talk about boys she never knew.

"Ah yes, nothing the the group work spirit! It always sends students into a frenzy of emotions. But do not fret, I have just the cure for this!" Slughorn then flicked his wand, and white papers appeared on the desks. "First we will have a pop quiz!" Now the students let out a loud audible unison groan. "You will have ten minutes to complete this on the reading from last night, and then we will pair up into groups. Your time starts now!"

_Wow, Slughorn does not play_, Violet thought as she began to read the questions. She looked at the test in a haze, she literally could not remember anything. " _**What brew consists of mugwort, sage, and rosemary, but excludes bergamot and lavender?"**_ _How did I not read last night?! _"_**What would happen if you put sage into the calderon first, and missed an ingredient?"**_

Violet rubbed her head, and ruffled her hair. She was going to fail her first test back, and it hasn't even been a week since she's been in the past. She looked around frantically as if she were trying to capture the answers in the air. She met eyes with Rachel who dramatically covered her answers, and made a face at Violet, who just rolled her eyes. _My eyes are going to get stuck in this position if I keep rolling them, _She thought, and then stuck a tongue out at Rachel even when she wasn't looking. She turned to her test, and tried her best on all the questions.

"Okay, time's up!" Slughorn waved his hand and the papers all flew onto his desk. "I'll have these graded by the end of class, so you can get your scores today. Now, here are the groups.." Slughorn began to read off names, and Violet leaned back in her chair to talk to Harry and Alphard, and both moved forward towards her.

"How was it?" She whispered over her shoulder.

"Not too bad. You?" Harry shrugged.

"Horrible. Didn't read." She frowned.

"I thought it was great." Alphard grinned.

Violet wordlessly moved forward onto her desk, sure she had failed badly if Harry and Alphard thought the test was easy.

"Black and Porter…" Slughorn announced while Harry and Alphard shook hands clearly pleased to be group partners. Violet looked back at them, noticing how friendly they seemed with each other already. "Riddle and Malfoy…"

Harry and Violet met eyes, and then looked over to Riddle and Malfoy. Riddle nodded and Malfoy smirked happily, knowing his was going to get a good grade regardless of his effort; Riddle was going to take lead of the project anyways.

"Droope and Virk…" Slughorn finally said the magic words, and Violet looked over towards Margot from across the room, and Margot waved at her excited. Violet sighed in relief, things were looking up. "Now you will find all the ingredients written on the parcel paper inside your desk. Gather your materials and start! You have 20 minutes."

Violet, Harry, Alphard, and Margot gathered together to get the materials. As Alphard and Margot grabbed the materials for the potions, Harry and Violet waited in line to grab the cauldrons. As they turned to speak with each other, Malfoy stopped Charlus Potter and a Ravenclaw boy in front of them. Malfoy took the calderon sneering, and walked back to Riddle who observed the situation. As he turned, Harry and Violet briefly met eyes with him.

"Why is it I always forget our plan when I see him?" Violet whispered to Harry, whose blue eyes followed the retreating pair.

"Our plan is to lay low, don't attract more attention, and analyze him. See what he's up to, and then stop him." Harry recited, as if it were the lullaby that he sang himself to sleep.

"Yes, I know...But I always feel like I want to figure out what he's up to already." Violet shook her head, as Harry removed his glance from Riddle, onto her. "But you're right." Just then Margot and Alphard got back.

The class worked on their projects, and they were nearly done. Violet and Margot were doing fairly well along with Alphard and Harry. They were just about to finish when Slughorn appeared to their section.

"Miss Virk, may I speak with you?" Slughorn pulled her aside with her test in hand, and Violet felt her face get warm. She wasn't too far from Harry and the group, who could briefly hear conversation. "You scored fairly low, Miss Virk, and you just entered my class. I know it could be a mistake, but I want to make sure you are properly learning in class." Violet felt her face turn red, even though her tan skin hid it well, she could still feel the heat radiating off from her. She felt embarrassed to have such a low grade, she was actually a great student usually. "In order to ensure your success in class, I will have to get you a partner who has the best grade in the class." Violet's heart started to sink when it dawned on her who it would be. "Mr. Riddle, can you come here?" Riddle, who looked up from his desk, stood up and started to effortlessly glide towards them. It could have even been a possibility he knew what they were talking about since he had the ability to know everything that was occurring around him.

"Yes, sir?" Riddle questioned smoothly, hands crossed behind his back.

"Meet your new partner, Miss Violet Virk. You will be helping her with Potions for the rest of the semester." Slughorn cheerfully claimed, as Harry, Alphard, and Margot stared in wonder behind him.

Riddle turned to Violet with a smile spreading across his face, "it would be my pleasure to work with you, Miss Virk."

Violet took a big breath in, and stared at him with deer in the headlight eyes, "The pleasures all mine."


	7. Cosmic Joke

Greetings. It's back, did you miss the story? =D Please do not hesitate to drop any comments, suggestions, or thoughts in the reviews, I'd love to hear about everything you thought when you read this chapter!

* * *

Chapter 7:

Cosmic Joke- a set of events that occur which are opposite to the desired outcome.

* * *

Violet shook her head, absently as she looked between Riddle and Slughorn, not believing her luck was this bad. The one person she wanted to remain incognito to and analyze from afar, was now her Potions tutor. This had to be the biggest cosmic joke since all her and Harry had planned was to remain cool and distant towards Riddle, so they didn't peak his interest...but how could Harry Potter and Violet Virk ever remain unsuspicious and normal when the whole wizarding world always targeted them? So much for laying low.

"Do you understand, Miss Virk?" Slughorn finished up and looked at her.

Violet took in another large breath when she realized she hadn't heard a word he had said. "Yes, I understand, Professor." She smiled with fake confidence. Slughorn then turned around and left, while VIolet was left facing Riddle, who watched her closely. She could not believe it, she really had the worst luck because now was she not only working with Riddle, embarrassed about her grades, but she hadn't even heard what Slughorn muttered to her about tutoring or assignments.

"Miss Virk, did you understand everything Professor Slughorn said?" Riddle asked, with a forced concerned look.

"Sorry?" Violet asked, her attention now drawn to Riddle's feigned concern. She realized that he was a master at hiding real emotions and deceiving others into believing that he could actually care. How manipulative, Violet felt such a brief irritation at his fake concern.

"Miss Virk, I asked if you understood everything Professor Slughorn said? Riddle's lip twitched ever so slightly, causing Violet to think, "_Does Tom Riddle think I'm stupid?"_

"As I stated, yes." Violet cleared her throat, slightly raising her chin to display her confidence. _I guess now my ego decides to show up, _she thought, feeling the need to show that she understood and was smart.

"Then I shall meet with you in the library after our last class?" Something told Violet her repeated this in order to help her out, and even if she was thankful deep down, her ego got the best of her. "_As if a serial killer is going to act smarter than me!" _Violet felt herself thinking.

"Of course, now I'll get back to my potion." Violet mirrored Riddle's forced smile. "See you after."

Riddle nodded and turned back to his Violet, who walked back to her table. Margot, Harry, and Alphard looked at her, waiting for an answer.

"You failed the test, didn't you?" Harry smirked, trying to hide his amusement at Violet doing horrible on her assignment. She stuck her tongue out in response, and planted down into her seat in between where Alphard and Harry worked.

"Oh my, you failed and now have to be tutored by Riddle?" Margot sounded shocked, as she stood near the caldrone, whisking it softly so their potion was still mixing well.

"Yes, now don't sound so smug, Harry." Violet scrunched up her face. "It's only for a little bit." She hoped, since she couldn't even remember what Slughorn was saying over her hurt ego and shocked state of mind.

"Yeah, it'll be fine." Alphard chimed in, smiling brightly at Violet, trying to make her feel better. Alphard might have been Violet's favorite person in the past since he always seemed so positive. "It's only the first test, and you were just off since you're barely adjusting to Hogwarts." Violet actually almost believed him when she stared into his kind baby blue eyes; Alphard was a very sweet guy.

"Thanks, Alphard." Violet slightly smiled, "Now let's get back to our assignments, so I don't fail twice today." She joked, as Margot and Alphard went back to their respective potions caldrons.

Harry motioned at Violet, to quietly speak to her, and she came closer and pretended to write in her notebook as Harry spoke.

"I guess you have an 'in' to talk to Riddle now." Harry whispered to her, as she pointed at random lines in the notebook to make it seem as if they were studying.

"Unfortunately." She grimaced. "I can't do it alone. He's too assuming."

"Come on, VI, you got this. You have an excuse to get to know him better and speak to him, to see what he's up to." Harry urged.

"I know, but I always thought we would do that together. This is just too much for me, he literally makes me nervous. He's a psychopath killer who is now my tutor. I didn't sign up for Evil Dictator 101." Violet shuddered, while Harry gave her a look that usually meant that she was sounding like an ignorant American. "You're condescending glare isn't going to change my mind."

"Vi, come on, this was all your plan!" Harry claimed, and when he saw she was going to cut him off, he continued, "All you have to do is go to tutoring, and slowly get to know him." They just glared at one another until Harry opened his mouth and uttered, "And you know...maybe...you can use your...feminine allure to get him to open up to you." Harry uneasily said. It was as if Harry couldn't admit that Violet was actually a girl who was attractive, even when he knew this. His brotherly instincts were activated, and he only allowed himself to see her as a brute.

"Harry, you finally realized I was a girl!" Violet turned to pinch him, and Harry couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

"I knew that when I saw you and Malfoy after the Battle, okay?" He always found it hilarious when a guy would notice Violet since he always saw her as an unattractive troll most times, even when he knew she was an attractive girl. They both always fought and joked like siblings who found the other amusingly hideous. And when he found out that her and Malfoy were sorta seeing each other after Malfoy joined their side, it was unbelievable crazy to him. Violet made a face when Harry mentioned Malfoy, forgetting that she had actually had something with him in her time. She hadn't thought about it since she had not allowed herself to think about the ones back home. "That was in the present, and I'm focusing on the past right now." Violet grimaced at her choice of words, "What in the bloody hell are you saying? That I should flirt with a serial murderer who is the darkest wizard of all time?!" Violet pinched Harry on his leg again, while Harry stifled a painful laugh.

"Okay, okay, but it's not a bad idea; after all, they're both Slytherins. And we'll focus on you and Malfoy when we get back and Ron and I can both tease you." She had finally stopped pinching him, but after he made this comment, she punched him on his leg, and Harry rubbed his leg. "I get your point, but if Riddle could grow some type of...fondness..for you, It would help…" Harry's smile drifted away. They started to have their reality dawn on them, the one where Riddle is the dark wizard who stole their childhoods, family, friends, away from them. Violet didn't say anything while Harry peered over at her. "I know, it's going to be really hard..to not lash out and say something to him, or not to realize what he's done...but it might really help, Vi..If he could even start telling you just a bit of information...We know that he's not capable of feeling love...but even if he can fake it and tell you some stuff...You don't have to say yes or answer it...but I think it would really help us out. "

Violet knew Harry was right, but she was scared to be with the creature who killed their family, friends, and loved ones. She was scared of what she'd do, what he'd do, and if she would betray the truth, and try to stop him before he gets a chance to kill others. It was a multilayered problem, that she didn't have time to think about since Margot looked over at her and called her over. She and Harry looked at each other, and Harry patted her arm, as if to motion for her to think about it. He went back to his potion, as she gathered her stuff, and her mind, to walk over to Margot. When she glanced up, she met eyes with Riddle from across the room, through a thick layer of smoke from other students' potions. She seemed to stare a second to long, and noticed how hypnotically blue and dark they seemed even from across the room. She wondered if he had listened to what they were talking about, but she recalled that she had briefly seen Harry cloak their voices with a spell. She broke her gaze, and got shivers when she realized that maybe he wasn't staring at her because of what he heard, but more of what he didn't hear.

Violet, Margot, Harry, and Alphard completed their potions amazingly. Margot was surprised that Violet wasn't a full idiot when she actually knew how to brew the potion. Violet had reminded her that she was actually in fact a good student, and that she would prove it to Margot.

"I'll get you a butterbeer in Hogsmeade if you get a passing grade or higher." Margot laughed as they headed to their DADA class.

"Get ready to pay up. "Violet shrugged as Harry and Alphard laughed behind them.

* * *

In the DADA class, Professor Merrythought had allowed Harry, Violet, Margot and Alphard to sit in a row. Behind them Olive, Rachel, Miriam, and Elizabeth sat, while Charlus and other Gryffindor quidditch players sat.

As they settled into their chairs, Harry whispered, "Hopefully you're lucky enough not to have a pop quiz in this class."

Violet mocked his smile, "Hopefully you're lucky enough to still have your body intact if you keep joking with me."

"You both are seriously too much." Alphard laughed, "I thought Margot and I were funny."

"Well we're in Defense class, so I felt the need to defend myself." Violet shrugged.

"American women are a lot different than women here." Margot remarked, looking at Violet curiously. Violet and Harry shared a glance, feeling that maybe Violet was way to advanced for this age. "I like it." Margot grinned. "Women need to be assertive, that's why we have Professor Merrythought teaching us."

Just then Professor Merrythought came in, and she had a feeling of power radiating off of her. She was in her mid 50s with a smile that can make anyone feel safe, and had salt and pepper hair. But there was something in her eyes that made one feel as if they should never be on her bad side.

"Greetings class! How are we all doing?" She surveyed around the room, hearing mostly well comments. "Splendid to here. Now today we will be learning about defense blocking techniques, and before we start physically practicing them, we will be learning about them first. And as the week progresses, we will get a dueling mat out, and we can practice." The class seemed to be excited and whispers emerged.

"Harry, maybe we might actually _learn _in DADA class for the first time." Violet joked to Harry.

"Let's not get our hopes up, we haven't had another decent professor yet." Harry grinned. It was a running joke between their friends that they had basically learned from each other rather than any professor minus Lupin.

"While since you are so excited, and if you all promise to act accordingly…" Merrythoughts eyes twinkled. "We can even try to learn an offensive technique earlier than expected." At this the students all but shouted in agreement. "But remember that we need to remain on task at all times. Now let's open your books to page 124."

* * *

After Merrythoughts class, the day went by surprisingly fast. Violet and Harry had tried to speak to Dumbledore in class, but he had seemed to send them a message to speak to them privately tomorrow night. They realized that it was for the best that no one saw them close to Dumbledore as much, as that would strike up suspicion. Just before dinner, Margot and Violet sat on in their respective beds, skimming through their readings.

"Sometimes I cannot believe that textbooks manage to make magic sound boring." Violet sighed as she flipped through the pages. She had remembered most of the material, and she even knew the newer breakthrough magical research of the present, so how she failed, baffled her.

_I guess, I just was under stress, _Violet frowned down at the book.

"Tell me about it.." Margot seemed to be writing notes, and Violet could tell that she must be one of the top students in her class. "I can't believe you actually failed the test."

"Don't remind me." Violet now rolled over on her back, and stared at the ceiling. "I rarely fail."

"I believe you. I've seen how you articulate information in class, and I just think that you were caught off guard." Margot now looked up at Violet, who was peering over at her in confusion. "I like to watch people sometimes."

"Me too," Violet nodded. "I guess I should have been studying the textbooks more than watching others."

"Speaking of studying textbooks, don't you have a session with Tom Riddle?" Margot inquired, as Violet took a deep breath in. She was very nervous to spend time alone with Riddle.

"Yeah, I don't know if I want to go." Violet looked blankly at the ceiling. Harry had told her that he would also show up during the middle of the session to back her up, but that is after Violet had spent a good amount of time with him alone. What if he guessed she wasn't from his time, or what if he finds out something through her thoughts?

"Why not? It is required by Slughorn." Margot got up and went over to Violet, she sensed Violet wasn't feeling her best. Her almond eyes filled with concern, as she sat on Violet's bed next to her.

"I just feel…" Violet tried to come up with a lie.

"Nervous about meeting someone as handsome as Riddle by yourself after you failed your test?" Margot grinned in a joking manner, placing a strand of her straight black hair behind her ear. She had the nicest black hair, and Violet figured it was from her Asian background to have beautiful silky hair.

"You could say that." Violet nodded, it wasn't that far fetched except for the fact that she was nervous to meet the darkest wizard of her time by herself. "What do you think?" The question slipped her mouth, and she looked at Margot who sat on the corner of her bed.

"I think that Riddle is unwaveringly handsome...But that there is more than meets the eye, like for everyone. I also think that he is very intelligent and will help you pass the class." Margot nodded. "And I think you're going to be late if you don't leave now."

* * *

Violet walked into the library, realizing that they were now in October. There were spooky Halloween decorations and ghosts flying amuck. She loved Halloween season, there was just a mystical hint of magic in the air.

She walked around, noticing there were only a handful of students in the entire library, and since she had not picked a specific place to meet Riddle, she just wandered around looking at the amazing Halloween decorations. There was a Halloween shelf of potions, skeletons, and totems in the middle of the library. She grinned brightly when the skeletons started to move and dance, and the troll totems began to throw small curses and send colors into the air. She found herself laughing when she saw the warty witches falling off the brooms and plopping into green slime onto the bookshelf. She then saw a divination ball in the center of the shelf, when she went closer, there appeared to be a little light shining. As she focused on the golden light, it danced into different neon colors she couldn't have imagined. She found herself in awe, but slowly the center went dark. She furrowed her brows and followed the color changes with her eyes. She stared so intensely when she saw a shadow reflected in the black behind her, making a face. She watched the face develop in the form, and she gasped and turned around. Tom Riddle stood behind her with an amused look on his face.

"You startled me." She whispered, _again. _Nothing was scarier than Voldemort creeping behind her; it was like he wanted her to constantly be in fear of his presence.

"My apologies, Miss. Virk." Riddle nodded, and suddenly there was a splat sound as Violet turned behind her to see the divination ball fully covered in red color.

"I guess you saved me from that scare, so it's alright." Violet chuckled, albeit, nervously. "So where would you want to sit?"

"I have a place in mind." Riddle planted a polite smile, as he led them towards the space. Violet realized he was walking in front of her, so she picked up her pace, which didn't go unnoticed by him. "Do you partake in Halloween, Miss Virk?" They headed up the stairs, and turned to the left.

Violet almost seemed to be thrown off by the simple question, "I-yes, I love it. It's my favorite holiday along with Christmas. I love decorating, the spooky feeling lurking in the air, and monster galore." She felt herself get excited. "What about yourself?"

"I am partial to it." Riddle responded, glancing ahead, as Violet thought about if he truly was or wasn't. She would never know, and wasn't it said that Voldemort never felt any love or fondness towards anything at all. Would Riddle ever even understand the feeling of fondness to something as simple as Halloween? It honestly made her a bit sad.

"Well what do you like about it?" She asked, looking over at him.

"The mysticism." And Riddle stopped in front of a desk by the great large window near it. Violet realized that she had followed him blindly and now they were completely alone, in a darkly lit place. Then she realized this is probably how his 'followers' felt, charmed by his little notions and led astray to who knows where. She suddenly felt the air change when she realized she was completely alone in this section of the library with him. She looked around, Riddle noticed.

"Though I know it is the season, I will not bite, Miss Virk." Riddle slightly let out a smirk, his dark blue eyes twinkling.

"Funny, I was just looking around for light." She forced a half-lying smile, meeting his eyes and shrugging. She found it amusing that he attempted at a joke, even if it was a little threatening. She needs to disguise her emotions more, he was surely picking up on every cue she was dropping. She knew this was a wrong idea, she hadn't even prepped for their meeting and came in blindly. Then, Riddle had flicked his hand, and suddenly the candles brightened around the room, providing a well lit ambience, and another candle lit at the end of the desk.

"That's perfect." She sat down, as Riddle sat in front of her. She had no idea how this would work, she never had a tutoring session what someone she didn't know. And so far, it was awkward. "So I have never really had to have tutoring like this before, maybe you would know where to start?" She admitted looking down at the books in front of her, as Riddle placed his writing instruments.

"Of course, I believe we should start with the basic ingredients in Potions and how they chemically react with one another." Riddle reached for the textbook and placed it on the side, so both of them could read it.

"So chemistry between them?" Violet asked.

"Precisely, let's start with this." Riddle wrote down two words. "Sage and cedar. What are there commonalities?"

Violet furrowed her brows to think and placed her face on her propped hand for a moment, "They both cleanse and purify the air, so they are anti-bacterial and remove negative energy."

"Yes, think along positive energy." Riddle curtly answered.

"Hmm, that they defuse energy…" Violet sighed, not understanding.

"Think of attraction." Riddle made a notion towards the textbook photo of cedar and sage. "If I am Cedar…"

"And I'm sage." Violet nodded catching on. "Then the energy would be positive between us."

"Not necessarily." Riddle said. She wondered if he was slightly getting annoyed at her bullheadedness. She could be very slow in settings where she feels someone is talking at her. But she thought back to the clues he was giving her. Energy, positive, negative, attraction. She understood it now.

"Then we're attracted towards each other because we are function the same way." Violet grinned absentmindedly, looking up into his eyes, but then realizing that it might sound weirdly affectionate. For a second, she felt her pulse rise and her face flush, thinking that he probably thought she was coming onto him a bit.

"Yes, go on." She saw a visible smirk on his face, the candlelight's flame dancing in his eyes.

"The energy releases negative ions into the air to combat the positive ions, therefore neutralizing the air, hence purifying it." She finished, still a bit embarrassed but she didn't let him catch on.

"Precisely, Miss Virk." Riddle wrote down a couple of more questions, and their session continued. Throughout the session, Violet discovering little subtleties of Riddle. She never realized that she had not allowed herself to truly analyze him. He was very poised and fluid, everything he did, he did with precision. It was almost as if he was rehearsing a dance with his movements. He had a flow to him which was paradoxically rigid yet gliding. Violet figured that that was quite plausible since he was many different personalities contrived in one. But his appearance was particularly striking. It was no wonder that the wizard was uniquely radiant in his features. His medium dark hair was slightly wavy, and swooped up the left side of his head seeming as if he never had to comb it. His face always held an emotionless expression that he would try to mimic the emotions of his surroundings, but these emotions never reached his eyes, which were irresistibly captivating. His deep cerulean eyes seemed to only exhibit the emotion of mysticism and an emotion which couldn't be described by words. Violet thought maybe it was something even he didn't know how to convey. Somewhere between wickedness and incredulousness. Although, he was lean, he seemed to still have a strong stature which demanded attention. All in all, she understood why the Slytherin girls would be so crazy about him; he was very striking.

* * *

"I believe we are finished for tonight, Miss Virk." Riddle's lanky fingers briskly finished up his notes, and closed the textbook.

"Finally, I'm ready to sleep after all of this work, and your writing is impeccable." Violet murmured covering her own. "I have chicken scratch."

"You did not have to practice redundantly like the rest of the students." Riddle politely replied, flicking his wand to place everything back in its place.

When Violet made a confused face, Riddle slightly raised his brow, which caused her to remember that she was 'home schooled', "Ah yes, since my tutor didn't mind."

"How was it being home schooled?" Riddle questioned, peering at her face as she purposely looked away, seeming as she was packing up.

"It was good.." She tried to come up with more convincing lie. "I mean..lonely." She wasn't completely lying even if she hadn't been home schooled, she did feel incredibly lonely at times.

"Mr. Porter was also in your sessions." At this the air changed into more of an inquisitive thickness from Riddle, and it was no longer the light hearted tutoring session as before. He didn't lead it off a question, slightly revealing that he was in fact analyzing her responses. He seemed to be figuring out why her and Harry came out of nowhere.

"Yes, just the two of us, and it still became lonely." She finally had finished packing and had no choice but to face him. He began to walk downstairs, and she followed him

"You both seem close." She hadn't imagined his tiny emphasis on the word close, allowing her to realize he was asking her if her and Harry were a thing or not, which made her flush.

"No-yeah, we are close, but not that type of close." She sputtered, thankful that she had tan skin to cover her reddening cheeks, and that they were walking out of the library into the dim lit hallway.

"Whatever do you mean?" Riddle feigned innocence as if he wasn't insinuating any romantic relationship with Harry.

Knowing she had fallen into his trick, she kept explaining, "We are very close friends." At this she used a trick out of his book by placing a little emphasis on friends. They both stopped by the staircase, and they faced each other.

"Sounds wonderful." Again the air changed,but this time it was as if Riddle wasn't even paying attention to their conversation. Riddle looked briefly over her head, standing one foot taller than her, as if he were the least interested human in her ever. This made her feel oddly annoyed that he could play such complex tricks on her.

"You seem to have many close friends as well." She shot up, almost regretting it as Riddle glared at her cooly.

"Like whom?" Another change, he was mood was volatile as London weather. He was a master of dark emotions, and he intimidated his way with people who never even understood what he was doing. Riddle slightly set his jaw. She had forgotten that Voldemort hated friends and human interaction more than anything in the world, and now she had picked on him because he was playing tricks on her: she might not make it out of this study session. She had a death wish.

Yet she kept going, "Like..Olive Hornby, Parkinson.." She breathed in, watching the flame dancing in his eyes. "They seem like nice friends."

A deep second passed between them which felt longer to Violet, who seemed locked in place in Riddle's set glare. They both stood facing each other, in the dim lit hallway which was getting cold...or maybe it was Riddle's mood which was cold.

"Not nearly as nice as the one's I am making." At this Riddle, let out a smirk, as Violet realized that he was attempting to flirt with her. She could hardly believe that he believed that his fake flattery was going to make her swoon..but sadly her face became redder at the fact that she was so nervous that he would kill her at any second, and he probably thought she was just another charmed victim of his.

"Li-likewise." She muttered, as Riddle seemed smug because of the fact that she was flustered a bit.

"I bid you goodnight, Miss Virk." He nodded curtly, walking backwards, as she stepped towards the staircase.

"Goodnight." She answered back, but he was already heading down the hall as she ascended up the stairs.

Violet couldn't believe that she was caught off guard with Riddle's games, after all, she had known his was notorious for playing people. She was shaking her head, about to head into the common room when Harry saw her and pulled her aside.

"How was it?" His eyes twinkling, as he placed a little hush spell over them when other Slytherins headed to dinner.

"It was-" She took a deep sigh as Harry awaited her impatiently. "You didn't even show up to back me up like you was alright. I mean I actually learned, but he is very...interestingly infuriating." She finished the sentence getting more and more tense thinking back to how he would play word tricks on her.

"Of course I wasn't going to show up, it would seem weirder that I'm always around. And what do you mean?" Harry asked, shaking his head and crossing his arms. She took another sigh and explained the session to him, as he started to shake his head and chuckle.

"Vi, don't take this in a mean way, but you're slow." Harry grinned as she looked at him confused. "He was..playing with you." And when she continued to look lost. "In a teasing way..like flirting. He was trying to see if you were just another airhead student. And guess what...You actually got him off of our back a little bit because you sold the image." Harry finally let out a laugh.

"So he was testing me to see if I'd fall for his charms?" Violet asked scrunching up her face. "To see if I was like Hornby and Parkinson, Malfoy who'd fall for his looks and charmed demeanor…" She finally got it. All of the students at Hogwarts seemed to fall for his concerned display. She was being tested the whole time, and due to her confused behavior, she sold the act well. Maybe now he wouldn't be so alerted.

"Exactly, and you've done us a little favor, so good on you." Harry and Violet begun walking to dinner when they saw Margot and Alphard notion to them.

* * *

At dinner Margot asked Violet about her session with Riddle, and Violet explained the whole thing over to her. Margot didn't find it new since she said Riddle always charmed everyone in the school, but she didn't seem so charmed by him. This sort of proved what Harry was saying about Riddle scoping out if she fell for his charms like everyone else did, and she decided she was under his radar since she did fake display that she was. She even asked Violet if she could go to her next tutoring session with her since she needed help with a homework problem. Violet agreed as they headed to their dorms with Alphard and Harry trailing behind.

As they entered the dorms, Violet saw Riddle standing next to the fire with Hornby hovering close next to Malfoy. Violet hadn't seen him at dinner, but she assumed as a Prefect, he had overnight eating privileges, so he probably didn't want to eat with the rest of the Slytherins anyways.

When she stared at him, he turned and met eyes with her. They kept their gaze in tact as Hornby stood in front of him, blocking his body, but he still looked over her shoulder and kept his gaze on Violet, who thought back to his friends comment. Maybe he was really good _friends_ with Hornby since she stood so close to him. Violet broke away her gaze from him when she realized why would she wonder about how close he was with anyone. Margot and her bid Alphard and Harry goodnight, and they headed upstairs.

Before she turned the corner, she looked back down at Riddle, who looked up at her, still holding her gaze. For a second, another Slytherin student broke their stare as he walked by. When Violet looked down at him again, Riddle's eyes were forced on Hornby and Malfoy in front of him, leaving her to think she had dreamed his stare in the first place.


End file.
